The Case for Cyber

Abstract

Cyber warfare isn’t hype; it’s real. America’s decisive technological advantage now contains the seed of our undoing. Our technological dependence is woven into the fabric of our way of life and our national defense. GPS satellites guide troops and weapon systems, algorithms fly aircraft and allocate supplies, websites drive personnel assignments and promotion boards, and official and personal data and voice communications almost exclusively transit computer networks. If these critical networks begin to fail, we aren’t a twenty-first century fighting force; we are a 1980-era military. This estimate is generous. In 1980, we knew how to fight using face-to-face communications, manual land navigation, analog radios, and acetate overlays. Today is different. Information technology has largely kept its allure of dramatically increased efficiency at low cost. Thus, we no longer have “stubby pencil” warfighting skills or the extra personnel to handle these myriad manual tasks.