Companies Wrestle With the Cost of Cybersecurity

There are long-standing questions over the costs and benefits of cybersecurity. The Obama Administration stoked the debate by issuing new guidelines urging companies in important industries such as energy, banking and telecommunications to do more to protect and monitor their networks, and to train employees. Some business groups criticized the proposal, saying it would push them to spend money for uncertain benefits.

Increased spending might not make sense for an individual firm, they say, even if it might make the nation safer. The White House proposal is "pro-public and not pro-commercial," said Larry Clinton, president of the Internet Security Alliance, a business group. Cybersecurity measures must be cost-effective for an individual company, or be "supported by some sort of economic incentive," he said.