The US Defense Department needs private sector cooperation in reporting computer network attacks in real time to stop what has been the “greatest transfer of wealth in history” that US companies lose to foreign hackers, the head of US Cyber Command, General Keith B. Alexander told a Senate Committee.

The General, who is also the National Security Agency director, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that he supports legislation that would require private companies to report attacks, and added that such reporting needs to happen before an attack is complete.

“We need to see the attack,” he said. “If we can’t see the attack, we can’t stop it. We have to have the ability to work with industry – our partners – so that when they are attacked, they can share that with us immediately.”

Many cyber defence bills have stalled in Congress over concerns about privacy, overregulation and the military’s role in cyber protection, Alexander and the senators noted.

The General compared the current situation to a missile being fired into US airspace with no radars to see it. “Today, we’re in the forensics mode,” he said. “When an attack occurs, we’re told about it after the fact.”