[tastroder]

For me that cultural signal goes the other way around. When faced with people using "cyber" unironically I'm attributing that to government proximity, weird processes and TED talks for managerial types instead of actual technical content. Which is fine in context I guess, that doesn't make the term any less stupid, for me it signifies a certain cultural distance from the subject matter of a generation that has been left behind. I always assumed the term stemmed from the old use of cyberspace or cyber information highway in the 70s/80s(?), we've moved on from that era of the internet being a sci-fi construct. Even school children get at least some technical understanding these days and are made aware of larger implications like privacy.

While I absolutely agree that it's a pointless discussion, I don't believe it's completely insignificant.

[thepangolino]

You're not the only one. Brussels, the self proclaimed capital of the European Union and seat of many lobbies, is full of those "cyber-security" types. They proudly declare themselves experts in the field but are hardly pressed to discuss any product other than what they've been told to sell.

[nesadi]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cybernetics

This is where 'cyber' comes from. It's not "stupid".

[tastroder]

Ah, cheers, forgot about that one. I'm not saying the word "cyber" is generally stupid but the use as a pop culture prefix is... problematic and misleading in my view if you'd prefer other terms. It's just used as theatrics from the type of people that classify getting hit by ransomware due to unpatched systems as some APT, at least everywhere I see it.