Cyber Warfare: A Need for Beyond Goldwater-Nichols

Although the nature of war does not change, the inventions of art and science evolve, resulting in innovations that prove most difficult for leaders and warfighters to effectively incorporate into their current operations. Cyberspace is a technological innovation that has been easily incorporated, but the problems resulting from the cross-organizational nature of the domain and the global pervasiveness of the medium have not been adequately considered. Cyberspace is the medium that links all public and private agencies within the country and presents vulnerabilities that can be exploited by both state and non-state actors. Therefore, to better protect networked infrastructure, mandates beyond Goldwater-Nichols must be initiated to ensure that organizations adhere to standards established and managed by a senior agency designed to improve response to possible attacks, economy of effort, and the use of resources in a constrained environment.