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

The disclosure comes after advancements in AI have raised concerns from Washington to Silicon Valley about how the technology could supercharge cyberattacks. — Lisa Eadicicco, CNN Money, 21 Oct. 2026

In July, a horde of OpenAI agents broke out of their sandboxes and worked together to launch a cyberattack on the AI company Hugging Face. — Harry Booth, Time, 20 Oct. 2026

Censorship masked as safety AI can cause real harm, from launching cyberattacks to generating sexualized images of children. — Jordi Calvet-Bademunt, The Conversation, 20 Oct. 2026

Stryker has a strong history of growth, but its stock has come under pressure following a cyberattack earlier this year and concerns that government healthcare funding cuts could weigh on demand for medical procedures. — Sarat Sethi, CNBC, 20 Oct. 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