Hackers are not always cyber criminals, and for the Accademia della Crusca the word “cybersecurity” should be written with an “i” therefore cybersecurity: after the attacks on the refrigerators of European supermarkets, we clarify a series of expressions used incorrectly on the web with the help of the expert Corrado Giustozzi.
These days we are reading expressions like “hacker attack”“hackers” and “cybersecurity”, but these are not always the most appropriate terms. For example, a hacker is not necessarily a cybercriminalwhile the word “cybersecurity”, although widespread and also used by Italian institutions, has been criticized byCrusca Academywho prefers to use the “i”, writing “cybersecurity”. To explain to us why it is important to choose these words carefully is Corrado Giustozzi, Cybersecurity teacher at the Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome, whom we interviewed on the occasion of the recent attacks on the refrigeration systems of European supermarkets.
Because “hacker attack” is not always the most appropriate term
When we hear about a hacker attack, it often comes naturally to us to imagine a hooded person in front of a computer trying to violate a computer system. But the term “hacker” is not synonymous with computer criminal: the word was born in the context of computer culture, in particular in the US university environments of the 1960s, to indicate people with considerable technical skills and capable of finding ingenious solutions to IT problems.
As also reported by L‘Treccani Encyclopediathe term has taken on different meanings over time. Today, for example, we talk about “white hat hacker” to indicate experts who identify IT vulnerabilities while operating for security purposes and in compliance with the rules, and of “black hat hacker” for those who use their skills to carry out illicit activities.
There is also the intermediate category of “grey hat”which includes behaviors that are not always clearly attributable to the first two categories.
Not all hackers, therefore, are criminals, just as not all cyber attacks are necessarily carried out by particularly skilled individual experts: behind these operations there may also be structured criminal organizations or groups acting for political and strategic purposes.
For this reason, according to Giustozzi, it would be more appropriate to talk about “cyber attack” or “cyber attack”expressions that describe what happened without automatically attributing a particular identity to those responsible. When the latter are identified, more precise definitions can be used, such as “attackers”, “cyber criminals” or “saboteurs”depending on the case.
Speaking generically about hackers risks confusing security experts and cyber criminals, while choose more precise terms helps to better explain the nature and complexity of digital threats.
Cybersecurity or cybersecurity? What the Accademia della Crusca says
Another word that has entered everyday language is cybersecurityused to indicate the protection of networks, computer systems and data from digital threats. Yet, from a linguistic point of view, this term has a particularity: it combines the English prefix cyber- at the Italian word security. It is therefore a hybrid training, which not all linguists consider preferable.
The prefix cyber– comes from English cyberneticscorresponding to Italian cyberneticsa term which in turn dates back to Greek kybernetes (“helmsman” or “one who governs”).
In a statement dated November 22, 2018, the Incipit group of the Accademia della Crusca recommended prefer the Italian prefix “ciber-” to “cyber-” when new Italian words are formed. According to this indication, therefore, it is preferable to write “cybersecurity”, as well as “cyberdefense”, “cyberspace” or “cyberprotection”.
The issue returned to the forefront in 2021, when the Italian Government officially introduced the term cybersecurity into the name ofNational Cybersecurity Agency (ACN). The Incipit group intervened again, criticizing this choice and reiterating the preference for the Italian form.
This does not mean that cybersecurity is a forbidden word: it is a form that is now widespread and consolidated in institutional use. Crusca’s recommendation rather concerns the linguistic coherence and the preference for terms constructed according to conventions of Italian.
Alternatively, the expression can also be used “cybernetic security”used for some time in institutional documents, or the most common “cyber security”, whose meaning can, however, be slightly more limited depending on the context.
