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* cyber attack * cybersecurity system * cyber-intrusion * cyber databases (twice!) * cyber threat Use of the word "cyber" adds virtually no insight or context

* cyber attack * cybersecurity system * cyber-intrusion * cyber databases (twice!) * cyber threat Use of the word "cyber" adds virtually no insight or context to this article.

bhauer 11y ago
"Cyber databases" was the clincher for me. At least all of the others are using the adjective to (ostensibly) distinguish from a more general version of the same. A cyber-attack versus a straight-up physical attack. A cyber-intrusion versus physical trespassing. But who uses the term "database" to refer to anything but a store of data on a computer system? I realize the BBC has some old-fashioned style guide it's using here, but "cyber databases" betrays a bit of a need to revisit that guide. Edit: I've made a couple of recommended edits for the BBC as seen here: http://i.imgur.com/cewmams.png http://i.imgur.com/cewmams.png
- yellowapple 11y ago
  > But who uses the term "database" to refer to anything but a store of data on a computer system? Technically, a "database" is just an organized collection of data. While nowadays it's increasingly rare to encounter a non-electronic database, these were once upon very commonplace. One specific example that I recall rather fondly is the list of Dewey Decimal cards that libraries would keep in narrow file cabinets so that users could search through them and find the books they wanted. While my school library's catalog was already digitized, I still used these cards sometimes, finding books that had been omitted from the digital system for whatever reason (though these were eventually cleaned up when the digital system itself started to include the creation of spine labels, thus causing non-cataloged books to become more obvious).
  - bhauer 11y ago
    I am familiar with the term as it was used prior to computers. But the BBC's insistence on qualifying a database as a "cyber-database" in 2015 is gross anachronism the likes of using the phrases "touch-tone phone" or "world-wide web."
    - chatmasta 11y ago
      A more accurate analogy would be using the phrases like "cell phone," which are certainly still commonplace. Adjectives tend to stick around longer than necessary for disambiguation, but that doesn't mean they are useless.
    - deleted 11y ago
      [deleted]
- bashinator 11y ago
  Here's my own rewrite of selected paragraphs: > Using a new security system known as Einstein, the OPM detected a network intrusion in April 2015. The FBI said it is investigating the breach. > Ken Ammon, chief strategy officer of Xceedium - a information security firm - warned that the hacked data could be used to impersonate or blackmail federal employees with access to sensitive information. > Congressman Adam Schiff has called for database software to be upgraded in light of the most recent attack. > Americans "expect that federal computer networks are maintained with state of the art defenses", Mr Schiff said. > "The threat from hackers, criminals, terrorists and state actors is one of the greatest challenges we face on a daily basis, and it's clear that a substantial improvement in our databases and defenses is perilously overdue." edit: bhauer, your edits are hilarious.
cesarbs 11y ago
Cyber databases made me cringe.
shitlord 11y ago
The writer must be a UMUC alumnus. :)

* cyber attack * cybersecurity system * cyber-intrusion * cyber databases (twice!) * cyber threat Use of the word "cyber" adds virtually no insight or context to this article.

bhauer 11y ago

"Cyber databases" was the clincher for me. At least all of the others are using the adjective to (ostensibly) distinguish from a more general version of the same. A cyber-attack versus a straight-up physical attack. A cyber-intrusion versus physical trespassing. But who uses the term "database" to refer to anything but a store of data on a computer system? I realize the BBC has some old-fashioned style guide it's using here, but "cyber databases" betrays a bit of a need to revisit that guide. Edit: I've made a couple of recommended edits for the BBC as seen here: http://i.imgur.com/cewmams.png http://i.imgur.com/cewmams.png

yellowapple 11y ago
> But who uses the term "database" to refer to anything but a store of data on a computer system? Technically, a "database" is just an organized collection of data. While nowadays it's increasingly rare to encounter a non-electronic database, these were once upon very commonplace. One specific example that I recall rather fondly is the list of Dewey Decimal cards that libraries would keep in narrow file cabinets so that users could search through them and find the books they wanted. While my school library's catalog was already digitized, I still used these cards sometimes, finding books that had been omitted from the digital system for whatever reason (though these were eventually cleaned up when the digital system itself started to include the creation of spine labels, thus causing non-cataloged books to become more obvious).
- bhauer 11y ago
  I am familiar with the term as it was used prior to computers. But the BBC's insistence on qualifying a database as a "cyber-database" in 2015 is gross anachronism the likes of using the phrases "touch-tone phone" or "world-wide web."
  - chatmasta 11y ago
    A more accurate analogy would be using the phrases like "cell phone," which are certainly still commonplace. Adjectives tend to stick around longer than necessary for disambiguation, but that doesn't mean they are useless.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
bashinator 11y ago
Here's my own rewrite of selected paragraphs: > Using a new security system known as Einstein, the OPM detected a network intrusion in April 2015. The FBI said it is investigating the breach. > Ken Ammon, chief strategy officer of Xceedium - a information security firm - warned that the hacked data could be used to impersonate or blackmail federal employees with access to sensitive information. > Congressman Adam Schiff has called for database software to be upgraded in light of the most recent attack. > Americans "expect that federal computer networks are maintained with state of the art defenses", Mr Schiff said. > "The threat from hackers, criminals, terrorists and state actors is one of the greatest challenges we face on a daily basis, and it's clear that a substantial improvement in our databases and defenses is perilously overdue." edit: bhauer, your edits are hilarious.

cesarbs 11y ago

Cyber databases made me cringe.

shitlord 11y ago

The writer must be a UMUC alumnus. :)