Latest Blog Posts…

Packet Pandemonium! Smurf vs. Fraggle and How to Keep Your Network Shipshape

Honestly, I can't help but crack a smile whenever these particular cyber-attacks crop up in conversation. Maybe it's a touch of rose-tinted nostalgia, or perhaps the names Smurf and Fraggle just genuinely tickle my funny bone. They might conjure images straight out of...

DDoS Demystified: Unpacking the Digital Siege That Many Misunderstand

Today I am going talk about something that gets mentioned a fair bit in the digital ether, yet often remains a bit of a mystery to many: the Distributed Denial of Service, or DDoS, attack. You hear the term bandied about in news reports and cybersecurity discussions,...

The Curious Case of the Birthday Paradox: More Than Just a Party Trick

We've all heard the pub quiz classic: "How many people do you need in a room to have a 50% chance that two share a birthday?" The intuitive answer often hovers around a few hundred, given there are 365 days in a year. Yet, the surprising truth, the so-called Birthday...

Zero Trust: When Even Your Mate Griff Needs a Second Look (And Why That’s a Good Thing)

Gather 'round, folks, and let's have a bit of a dive on something that sounds a bit like a trust exercise gone wrong, but is actually the bee's knees of modern cybersecurity: Zero Trust. Forget everything you thought you knew about digital fortresses and cosy internal...

2023: A Cyber-Calamity in Review – Or, “Blimey, Did All That Happen?”

Settle in, put the kettle on, and perhaps grab a biscuit or two, because 2023 was an absolute humdinger of a year in the world of cybersecurity. It was a year that made even the most seasoned experts raise an eyebrow, then perhaps rub their temples vigorously. We saw...

The Origin of “Cyber”

The etymological roots of the word “cyber” are in the Ancient Greek verb “kybereo,” meaning “to guide, to steer, or to control.” This foundational meaning is crucial to understanding how the term evolved to describe complex technological systems.

The prominence of “cyber” truly emerged with the coining of “cybernetics” in 1948 by Norbert Wiener, an American mathematician. Wiener’s seminal work, “Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine,” established a new interdisciplinary field. Cybernetics, as he defined it, is the scientific study of control and communication in living organisms, machines, and organisations.

Evolution of “Cyber” into modern usage:

From “cybernetics,” the prefix “cyber-” began to be applied more broadly to describe anything related to computers, information technology, and the internet. This linguistic evolution mirrored the rapid advancements in these fields.

  • Cyber-space (1980s): William Gibson popularized “cyberspace” in his science fiction novel “Neuromancer” (1984), envisioning a global, interconnected digital realm. This term solidified the idea of a virtual world beyond physical boundaries.
  • Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Cyberwarfare: As the digital world expanded, so did the associated risks and challenges. Terms like “cybercrime,” “cybersecurity,” and “cyberwarfare” emerged to address the criminal activities, protective measures, and conflicts that take place within this digital domain.
  • Cyber-physical Systems: More recently, the concept of “cyber-physical systems” (CPS) has gained prominence, referring to systems that integrate computational and physical components, such as smart grids, autonomous vehicles, and robotic systems. This brings the original meaning of “control” and “guidance” back to the forefront in a very tangible way.

In essence, the journey of “cyber” from an ancient Greek verb to a ubiquitous prefix in the digital age reflects a continuous fascination with the principles of control, communication, and guidance, now applied to an increasingly complex and interconnected technological world.