The White House has proposed new laws aimed to beef up security of US companies against cyber-attacks.
Cyber attacks have grown over the years. Government and private systems are attacked millions of times per day, say US officials.
Earlier this year, government departments in Canada, France and South Korea reported data breaches due to cyber attacks. A report commissioned by the government of the UK found that cyber crime is costing the UK economy £27bn every year with businesses being the most affected. And recently, the Sony hack exposed personal details of over 100 million users worldwide.
The new plan proposed by the White House offers incentives to critical companies like those in power generationn and finance to make their systems hack-proof. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will be given the authority to work with industry to make sure that their computer systems are protected against cyber attacks.
The DHS can also step in and build the required security, if a company is unable to do it on its own.
Companies must also inform their customers about any hack if their personal information has been compromised, under the new proposal.
