|
Reader question: Please explain this headline, particularly “tip of the iceberg”: “Is the Adobe Hack Just the Tip of the Iceberg?” My comments: This headlines an article discussing data theft involving Adobe, the software firm best known for Photoshop. Some time ago as a matter of fact, hackers (program writers) penetrated Adobe’s computer system and stole customer data involving millions of people. That’s the problem being discussed, and the writer asks: Is this cyber security breach just the tip of iceberg? In other words, the writer wonders whether this is indicative of a larger problem, that Adobe and other firms may be facing similar threats – and more and more of them. Tip of the iceberg, you see, literally means the very tip or top of the iceberg, which is a gigantic piece of ice floating in the sea. Berg is originally Dutch for a mountain, so you see an iceberg can be enormous in size. The Titanic, for example, was sunk by an iceberg. That’ll give you an idea how big and powerful an iceberg can be. Anyways, the thing with an iceberg is that what you see is just a tiny small part of the thing. Ice is slightly lighter than water. Hence, an iceberg is able to remain afloat. Well, more from Wikipedia: Because the density of pure ice is about 920 kg/m³, and that of seawater about 1025 kg/m³, typically only one-twelfth of the volume of an iceberg is above water. The shape of the underwater portion can be difficult to judge by looking at the portion above the surface. This has led to the expression “tip of the iceberg”, for a problem or difficulty that is only a small manifestation of a larger problem. | 
