Obama warns that without new legislation, US will be vulnerable to emerging cyberthreats

President Barack Obama is warning that the U.S. and its economy will be left vulnerable unless Congress acts to prevent hacking.

Obama is calling for cybersecurity legislation in his State of the Union address. He says no foreign nation or hacker should be able to shut down U.S. networks and hackers must not be able to steal trade secrets or invade Americans' privacy.

Obama says his administration is working to use intelligence to combat cyberthreats the way it has with terrorism. He says Congress should pass legislation protecting childrens' information, fighting identity theft and addressing evolving cyberthreats. He says that would help protect technologies that have created opportunity worldwide.

Obama wants legislation enabling information sharing between the private sector and U.S. agencies and offering companies limited protection from liability.