By Danny Yadron and Jennifer Valentino-DeVries 

These days, CyberPatriots go to CyberCamps. Washington wonks ponder a Cyber Red Cross. Last week, the Director of National Intelligence told Congress a "cyber Armageddon" is unlikely. This week, CBS Corp. will premiere the latest iteration of its long-running cops and crime franchise, "CSI: Cyber," whose protagonist describes herself as cybercop and is based, the network says, on a real-life cyberpsychologist.

For some, it is cyber-overload.

"Stop using the word," Alex Stamos, the chief information security officer at Yahoo Inc. told a "Cybersecurity for a New America" conference in Washington last week.

Earlier, Mr. Stamos quipped on Twitter that he had won "CyberBingo" at his table after a conference speaker warned of a "Cyber Pearl Harbor," a term popularized by former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in 2012.

Mr. Stamos isn't brushing off computer intrusions in his quest to hack away at "cyber" usage. As the guy in charge of keeping prying eyes out of one of the world's most popular websites, you could say he is obsessed with them.

Rather, he and others argue that cyber is both overused and too vague as a description of anything--often bad--that involves a computer.

At last week's conference, Kevin Bankston, a policy director for the New America Foundation, a think tank, asked how people could practice better "cyber hygiene," a term used in Washington circles. Then he paused, smiled, and asked, "What is cyber hygiene?"

The Twitter account @cybercyber posts mentions of cyber or cyber-compound words culled from references by journalists and politicians. The purpose: To showcase "all the cyberpanic you can cyberhandle," according to the account's description.

No one is immune. A cyber-term has appeared in The Wall Street Journal on average nearly twice daily for the past year.

Conscientious objectors like Mr. Stamos say cyber-buzzwords are short-circuiting a debate on an important issue, amid recent large-scale computer breaches at Anthem Inc., Target Corp., Sony Pictures Entertainment and others.

"It means nothing," says Michael McNerney, a former "cyber policy adviser" for the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Mr. McNerney admits to using the term often in his past life. Then, in 2013, he moved to Silicon Valley to advise computer-security startups, and tried to wipe his cyber-vocabulary. In California, some people took "cyber" to mean robotics, virtual reality, even cybersex. "I learned to be a little more specific," he says.

One reason cyber is overused is the lack of an easy substitute. Mr. Stamos and his ilk sometimes prefer "information security" or "infosec."

Scott Stender, a co-founder of computer-security firm iSEC Partners, jokingly suggests the prefix "computery," as in "computerywar."

"It does lighten the mood," he said.

Cyber, based on a Greek word for steering or governing, appears to have started showing up in popular culture after World War II. In Britain's "Doctor Who" television series, the emotionless, cyborg Cybermen have been a recurring menace since 1966.

The modern usage took root in the 1980s science fiction of William Gibson, who coined the term "cyberspace" shortly after Bruce Bethke, another author, coined "cyberpunk." Following the birth of the World Wide Web in the 1990s, "cyberspace" became a synonym for "Internet," or "online."

That didn't please its creator. "Cyberspace is a heritage term for a heritage concept," Mr. Gibson said in a recent email exchange. "We drive cybercars, chill our food in cyberfridges, conduct the majority of our affairs over cyberphones, in, literally, a cyberworld."

Mr. Bethke, on the other hand, said his only regret is he "can't monetize the word."

In the 1990s, chatroom-based cybersex led the boy band NSYNC to pen "Digital Get Down." Then came Cyber Monday, the annual round of post-Thanksgiving shopping sales. There is also something called "cybersauce," which pasta-sauce maker Ragu mentioned last year in a Cyber Monday social media post. The company didn't respond to a request for comment.

"In my lifetime I've seen 'cyber-' go from 'punk' to 'sex' to 'Monday,'" Peter Biddle, a former manager at Microsoft Corp. and Intel Corp., recently wrote on Twitter. "I think I liked it better before."

For others, cyber appears to capture the future. Hollywood director Michael Mann's hacker thriller, "Blackhat," was originally called "Cyber."

"The world has changed," says Jerry Bruckheimer, executive producer of "CSI: Cyber," in a promo video. "There are all kinds of new crimes out there." CBS declined to comment on the name choice.

For Tom Lee, a programmer in Washington, D.C., the overuse of the term is a subject for parody. He created an online quiz at willusingtheprefixcybermakemelooklikeanidiot.com, according to Internet registration records. (Hint: Unless you are a science-fiction writer, the answer is "Yes.")

Mr. Lee confirmed his authorship via cybermail.

He made the website in 2010 partly as a reaction to the proliferation of cyberspies, cyberwarriors and cyberwonks. In 2001, Richard Clarke became the White House's first "Cyber Czar," a term previously used by the military.

In shorthand-obsessed defense-industrial-complex circles, cyber is often viewed as the next battle space, demanding weapons and funding to supplement planes (air) and ships (sea). Drone-maker Northrop Grumman Corp.'s foundation now sponsors the CyberPatriot National Youth Cyber Education Program run by an Air Force-linked nonprofit. Bernard Skoch, who runs CyberPatriot, said the program isn't military-focused.

But as for why its name is cyber-focused? "At the risk of appearing flippant, I suppose we could have chosen 'Computer Networks, Operating Systems, and Supporting Infrastructure Patriot,' but that was too long," Mr. Skoch said.

From Washington, it spread to board rooms. In 2011, federal regulators told companies they should tell shareholders about "cybersecurity risks and cyber incidents."

So in 2012, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Bank of New York Mellon all warned investors of cyberattacks in their annual securities filings. The prior year, those banks had referred to "information security" threats, a "breach of security" or "computer viruses."

Mr. Stamos, the Yahoo executive, acknowledged he has probably come up short in his cybercrusade (not his word).

Referring to the Defense Department's Cyber Command, Mr. Stamos said, "If the word is on a patch on somebody's shoulder, we've probably lost."

Mr. McNerney, who used to work near such patches at the Pentagon, said he is in talks to join a new technology company, but declined to elaborate. Asked what the company does, he said, "cybersecurity."

Write to Danny Yadron at danny.yadron@wsj.com and Jennifer Valentino-DeVries at Jennifer.Valentino-DeVries@wsj.com

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