A group of senators introduced a comprehensive bill this week that requires the secretary of homeland security to designate certain infrastructure like air traffic control as critical and compel steps to defend against hackers.

Senators John Rockefeller and Dianne Feinstein, both Democrats; Susan Collins, a Republican, and Joseph Lieberman, an independent, are the primary sponsors of the bill.

They say it is needed to prevent a catastrophic attack on the nation's water supply, electric grid, financial networks and transportation infrastructure.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said the bill would be brought quickly to the Senate floor because portions of it had been

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