ギリシャ語のkybernetes(ガイド、管理者)が語源で、語源的には政府と同じ。 1948年、アメリカの数学者がコンピュータを指す言葉として借用した。
Cyber is such a perfect prefix. Because nobody has any idea what it means, it can be grafted onto any old word to make it seem new, cool -- and therefore strange, spooky. ["New York" magazine, Dec. 23, 1996]As a stand-alone, it is attested by 1998 as short for cybersex (which is attested by 1995).