"Meanwhile, we do not have effective cross-border cooperation and law enforcement support to counter the attacks. Until we address cybercrime, these attacks will continue to be sophisticated, ingenious, and successful," Westby said.

She said financial institutions do a good job overall in defending against attacks, but believes political leaders should at least be speaking out. "The President or State Department should show some diplomatic muscle," she said, even if the attacks are from a nation state. "Cyber Command does not have the legal authority to assist private sector networks."

She and others also say an from the President to implement some of the provisions of the CSA, which is to being announced, . "An executive order from the president could not expand the jurisdiction of the Defense Department and Cyber Command," she said.

Roger Thornton agrees. "Indicting and extraditing these actors from their home jurisdictions is next to impossible, so legal recourse is difficult," he said, adding: "I'm not sure there is much that [the President] could do."

in CSOonline's Malware/Cybercrime section.