The observed shift was noted by Ed Felton in 2008 at Princeton [0]:
> Over time, “cybersecurity” somehow became “cyber security” and then just “cyber”.
[0] https://blog.citp.princeton.edu/2008/07/24/whats-cyber-cyber...
> Over time, “cybersecurity” somehow became “cyber security” and then just “cyber”.
[0] https://blog.citp.princeton.edu/2008/07/24/whats-cyber-cyber...
That seems to have changed this year as part of AI marketing. AI models have "cyber capabilities", or are described as being "good at cyber". Anthropic announced a "cyber mission" and has a "cyber verification program". I saw a company referred to as a "cyber firm".
A cynical explanation could be that this is because it's pure marketing, and the full term risks diluting the message. If you keep mentioning "security" people might notice the actions don't line up with the presentation.