What does cybercriminal mean?
A cybercriminal is a person who commits crimes using computers, networks, or the internet. The term covers a broad range of illegal activities, including hacking into systems, deploying malware and ransomware, stealing identities, running online fraud schemes, and trafficking in stolen data. Cybercriminals range from lone individuals working from home to organised groups and even state-sponsored actors, making the word central to discussions in law enforcement, cybersecurity, and everyday news coverage. The word is formed by combining 'cyber-', a prefix derived from 'cybernetics' and ultimately the Greek 'kybernetes' meaning steersman, with 'criminal'. It emerged as internet use spread in the late twentieth century and is now standard in both British and American English. Because the term denotes a person rather than an action, it pairs naturally with verbs like prosecute, track, or apprehend, and it carries unambiguously negative connotations.
nounA person who commits crimes using computers or the internet, such as hacking, fraud, identity theft, or spreading malware.
- A person who commits crimes involving computers or networks, especially via the internet (e.g. hacking, phishing, ransomware, identity theft).
"The cybercriminal siphoned millions from the bank by exploiting a flaw in its online payment system."
"Investigators traced the ransomware attack to a cybercriminal operating out of Eastern Europe."
"Simple precautions like two-factor authentication can stop most cybercriminals in their tracks."
Standard regular plural; used when referring to multiple perpetrators or the phenomenon collectively.
"International cooperation is essential to bring cybercriminals to justice across borders."
The prefix 'cyber-' comes from an ancient Greek word for steering a ship — so every cybercriminal is, etymologically speaking, a bad helmsman of the digital seas.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cybercriminal
The word 'cybercriminal' combines 'criminal', from Latin 'criminalis' relating to crime, with the prefix 'cyber-'. That prefix traces back through 'cybernetics', coined by Norbert Wiener in 1948, to the Greek 'kybernetes' meaning steersman or governor. As computing and networking spread in the late twentieth century, 'cyber-' became a productive English prefix for anything related to computers and virtual space, giving rise to words such as cyberspace, cybersecurity, and cybercrime. 'Cybercriminal' arose in this environment, likely in the 1990s, as reports of internet-based offences grew.
How cybercriminal is actually used
A modern compound term that emerged with the rise of internet crime in the 1990s; used in journalism, law enforcement, and cybersecurity contexts. Neutral register but carries strongly negative connotations. 'Cybercriminal' refers to the perpetrator, not the act itself.
Easily confused with cybercriminal
A hacker is anyone skilled at manipulating computer systems, often legally for security testing, whereas a cybercriminal specifically uses those skills to commit crimes.