There is no question that the computers controlling the nation’s critical infrastructure (the power grid, financial system, water treatment facilities, etc.) must be protected from potential cyber attacks launched by domestic or foreign enemies. But who’s responsibility is it to pay for this security, business leaders or national security organizations?

Some are backing stricter government regulation of cybersecurity, which has been proposed in the Lieberman-Collins legislation, while the majority of business leaders oppose this idea.

“The major concern is the vast regulatory structure that would be set up at the Department of Homeland Security,” says Larry Clinton, president of the Internet Security Alliance, an association of major U.S. companies with interests in the cybersecurity debate. It’s a concern not shared by Stewart Baker, a top cybersecurity official in the Bush administration who says he generally holds pro-business and anti-regulation views. “I see a big conflict between the desire to avoid regulation and the desire to protect national security,” Baker says.

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“I come down on the national security side of that debate.

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There is also disagreement as to whether private industry, which owns most of the U.S.’s infrastructure, is even capable of defending themselves against the increasing sophistication of external (or even internal) attacks. Many feel the government, with its cyber intelligence, could do a much better job. But again, that would require businesses to endure endless cyber regulations. As of now, many business leaders feel that is too much to handle (sounds similar to complaints about Dodd-Frank?). But when the electric grid is knocked offline in a cyber attack, they may feel differently. At that time, however, it could be too late.

As corporate boards and senior executives continue to deny the potential risks and consequences of cyber threats, we are indeed, as NPR put it best, fighting “a war without an army.”