The U.S. House of Representatives raised the stakes in a debate with the White House over how best to improve the nation's cybersecurity, passing a bill President Barack Obama called too weak and threatened to veto.

The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act passed the House by 248 to 168 yesterday. The measure, introduced by Representative Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican who heads the House Intelligence Committee, encourages the government and companies to voluntarily share data on cyber threats and gives businesses legal immunity for such exchanges.

"We can't stand by and do nothing as U.S. companies are hemorrhaging from the cyber looting coming from nation states like China and Russia," Rogers said in an e-mailed statement after the vote. "America will be a little safer and our economy better protected from foreign cyber predators with this legislation."