Without universally availability, plan could miss smaller businesses hackers could use as an entry point to critical infrastructure companies

'Cyber Defense Exercise' pits spy agency spooks against students from West Point, Annapolis and the Air Force Academy

The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), a modified information-sharing bill, passes the House Intelligence Committee by a wide margin, in order to help better protect American businesses from cyber looters. However, despite ammendments, privacy advocates still see the bill as a threat to personal data privacy protections.

The military's top cyber official this week made an urgent appeal for Congress to pass computer-security legislation, warning that the current legal framework discourages private-sector firms from sharing vital information about looming threats to the relevant government agencies and other businesses.

There never will be a perfect computer or network defense. Computer security is a constantly elevating game of cat-and-mouse. As quickly as you address the latest threat, attackers have already developed a new technique to access your network and compromise your PCs. But if you focus on the fundamentals, you can minimize your risk and defend against most attacks.

Three years ago, when electric grid operators were starting to talk about the need to protect critical infrastructure from cyberattacks, few utilities had even hired a chief information security officer.