The long-term cybersecurity initiative will focus on several other issues, including better sharing of information about cyberattacks and sharing government defense capabilities with private companies, officials say. The government also will work on recruiting more cybersecurity experts to work for U.S. agencies and educating Internet users about vulnerabilities, they say.

-Grant Gross

Can't Recall Your Password? Try This.

Our brains are littered with passwords from bank accounts, PINs, work e-mail, network log-ons, e-commerce and social networking sites.

How bad is the alphanumeric clutter in our heads? The average person now must remember five passwords, five PIN numbers, two number plates, three security ID numbers and three bank account numbers, according to research from Ian Robertson, professor of psychology at the Institute of Neuroscience and School of Psychology at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. His research found that nearly 60 percent of those studied felt they couldn't remember all these numbers and letters. As a result, most users create weak passwords or rely on technology to create or store alphanumeric data.