Editor's Corner

Dear Editrix,

Can you offer some tips on the use of the term cybersecurity…or is it cyber security?

Thanks!

Secure in the South

Dear Secure,

What great timing you have! Here on the JHA island of Symitar, we just enjoyed a fantastic educational conference, and it was full of presentations about the topic of cybersecurity. Being one of the editors of these presentations, I noticed that different people used different rules for cyber. Some used it as a prefix (cyberattack) and others used it as an adjective (cyber attack).

We should definitely all be using the same terminology here. At JHA, we use the Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) and Merriam-Webster as our primary resources. In this case, CMOS did not offer any help, but Merriam-Webster did.

According to our favorite dictionary, cyber should be used as a prefix. (Incidentally, the AP Style Guide agrees.) Following are some of the more common cyber-related words, along with the preferred spelling:

· cyberattack

· cyberbullying

· cybercafe

· cybersecurity

· cyberspace

· cyberstore

I hope this helps!

Kara

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

Symitar Documentation Services

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