Cybersecurity Efforts Hampered by Unreported Attacks

U.S. cybersecurity efforts are hampered by attacks that go unreported by victims unwilling to divulge confidential information, a research panel said Thursday.

The report by the Bipartisan Policy Center said the number of cyberattacks appears to be on the rise, along with financial losses.

It said that from October 2011 through February 2012, over 50,000 cyber attacks on private and government networks were reported to the Department of Homeland Security, including 86 attacks on "critical infrastructure networks."

But it noted that these "represent only a small fraction of cyber attacks carried out in the United States."

The think tank's cybersecurity task force headed by former National Security Agency chief Michael Hayden and businessman Mortimer Zuckerman said more sharing of information would help bolster cybersecurity.

"Despite general agreement that we need to do it, cyber information sharing is not meeting our needs today," the report said.