cyberattack

noun

cy·​ber·​at·​tack ˈsī-bər-ə-ˌtak 

plural cyberattacks

: an attempt to gain illegal access to a computer or computer system for the purpose of causing damage or harm

An undermine-first strategy allows the United States government to intrude into adversaries' systems, exploiting this covert access to gather intelligence and occasionally to deliver a destructive cyberattack.

—Joshua A. Kroll

If your data is valuable enough, there is almost nothing you can do to provide total security against an expert adversary. Simply put, the attacker may be smarter than anyone you have defending the network. Cyberattacks are not only impossible to block, they're often difficult to detect; you may not even know you're under attack in the first place.

—Robert W. Lucky

cyberattacker

ˈsī-bər-ə-ˌta-kər 

noun

plural cyberattackers

Cyberattackers constantly evolve their skills and will always find new ways to attack—it's not a question of "if," but of "when."

—Eileen Dignen

Examples of cyberattack in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Financial services accounted for 24% of all bot attacks and 46% of account takeover incidents, underscoring how automation is being used to directly monetize cyberattacks, as per the release. —Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 10 May 2026

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has postponed all final exams and assignments after an online learning system was taken offline following a cyberattack. —William Lee, Chicago Tribune, 9 May 2026

Students around San Diego County on Friday were slowly regaining access to Canvas, an online learning system used on campuses of all grade levels, following a cyberattack that took the education system offline for at least a day. —Caleb Lunetta, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 May 2026

Canvas, a learning management platform used by thousands of schools and universities, was down for hours on May 7 after a cyberattack, disrupting access to grades and coursework during spring finals season for many. —Thao Nguyen, USA Today, 8 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1996, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for cyberattack

• ammoniac
• biofeedback
• counterattack
• demoniac
• elegiac
• noncardiac
• paranoiac
• aback
• attack
• backpack
• backtrack
• bareback