(Bloomberg View) — President Barack Obama wants to prodcorporations into addressing their cybersecurity weaknesses and heused his State of the Union speech to do just that.

Obama also placed responsibility for inactionand any damage from future attacks on the shoulders of a deeplydivided, partisan Congress. His proposals are stilllargely shapeless. But if Congress doesn't help develop anaggressive plan and if companies are then hit by waves of seriouscyberattacks — as the most pessimistic security professionalsbelieve will happen this year — Republicans and Democrats alike maycome under fire. 

Online security wouldn't have warranted presidential attentionin the past, but in the wake of the Sony hack, corporate America isgrappling with the destructive power of a serious breach.Cybersecurity experts have warned for months that corporate hackersare using techniques once reserved for nation-state level warfareand they say an attack on the nation's largest businesses coulddisrupt commerce, livelihoods and workers' morale.