U.S. unprepared for Net meltdown, blue chips warn

CNET News.com: "The cautionary document (click here for PDF) was a product of the Business Roundtable, whose 160 corporate members include companies ranging from Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Sun Microsystems to General Motors, Home Depot and Coca-Cola. All told, the group's high-rolling membership counts $4.5 trillion in annual revenues, more than 10 million employees, and nearly a third the total value of the U.S. stock market.

Experts remain divided on the likelihood that a 'cyber Katrina' will occur, as the roundtable itself acknowledges. But many sectors of the economy continue to urge the government to be better prepared, should such an event occur.

Without proper planning, myriad industries--from health care to transportation to financial services--could face devastation if a natural disaster, terrorist or hacker succeeds in disrupting Net access, they charged. "