The Internet is a tool for productivity, commerce and social engagement.

Around the world it has also served as a platform of extremist propaganda on one hand and peaceful revolution on the other.

The Internet – decentralized, open and infinitely expandable – is transforming America and the world.

Those same qualities that bring transformation create vulnerability. That is why strengthening our nation’s defenses against cyber attacks is among my highest priorities.

Every day, America’s computer systems, whether in the public or private sector, are under attack by nation-states like China and Russia, terrorist groups, “hacktivists” like Anonymous, criminal gangs and hackers.

A 2011 study from the Government Accountability Office reported that cyber intrusions on U.S. government networks increased by 650 percent during the past five years. In 2010, 3 billion cyber attacks were recorded by the computer security firm Symantec alone. The same report noted that Web-based attacks increased 93 percent from 2009 to 2010, driven by an increase in the use of hacker tools easily downloaded from the Internet. Cyber attacks are escalating every day and pose a threat to our national security and economic prosperity.

Critical systems – such as those that control power grids, water-treatment plants, air-traffic control and financial networks – are under constant threat of attack, with consequences that could be catastrophic.

I recently observed a classified exercise exploring the consequences of a successful cyber attack of the electric grid powering New York City. Without getting into the details, let me just say that the impact was extremely serious.

Cyber attacks not only endanger lives and property, but they also threaten our economic prosperity. In January, Mike McConnell, former director of National Intelligence, and Michael Chertoff, the former secretary of Homeland Security, said in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that cyber espionage is “easily” costing the American economy “billions of dollars and millions of jobs.”

The intellectual property of businesses, on which billions of dollars is spent, is being constantly targeted, particularly by China. Whether a business makes music, medicine, computer software or microbrewed beer, the research and development that result from hard work, creativity and investment are at risk of theft by cybercriminals.

One American company lost a 10-year, $1 billion research and development effort to hackers who copied the trade secrets in a single night.

In fact, a study last year by Norton, the computer security company, pegged the annual cost of cyber crime to businesses and individuals at $114 billion.

To put that huge number in perspective – that’s bigger than Apple. That’s right – all of the revenue generated by all of those Macs, iPhones, and iPads sold last year doesn’t equal what cyber criminals ripped off.

Every week, we learn of more serious threats to the security of our cyber infrastructure.

Consider just a few high-profile victims of successful computer intrusions in recent months: Sony, Citigroup, the International Monetary Fund, the gmail accounts of high-ranking U.S. officials and the computer security company RSA – an intrusion that seems to have played a role in later attacks on the nation’s largest defense contractor, Lockheed Martin.

While the danger comes from all directions, experts point to one player as a particular threat – China. This threat comes from a global competitor seeking to steal the research and development investments of American firms to undermine our economic leadership. An intelligence report declassified just last fall confirms that the Chinese government has a national policy of economic espionage in cyberspace.

The evidence of our cyber security vulnerability is overwhelming and compels us to act now. Sen. Joe Lieberman and I have introduced a new cybersecurity bill, the Cybersecurity Act of 2012, that takes several crucial steps to strengthen our defenses in cyberspace.

It would help to secure the systems that control the most critical infrastructure – such as electricity, water, and major financial networks. With 85 percent of our nation’s critical infrastructure owned by the private sector, it is essential that the government work with the private sector to establish reasonable, risk-based performance standards but leave up to industry how to achieve those standards.

A major goal of this legislation is to encourage information-sharing between the private sector and the federal government so that computer-security experts can compare threats and intrusions. At the same time, it includes privacy and civil liberties protections.

After the 9/11 attacks, we learned with dismay of many early warnings that went unheeded.

When a major cyber attack occurs, the ignored warnings will be even more glaring because our vulnerability already has been demonstrated by the daily attempts by unfriendly nation-states, terrorist groups, cyber criminals and hackers to penetrate our systems.

We cannot wait any longer to pass legislation that provides both government and the private sector with the tools needed to protect our national security and our economic edge.

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