On the other hand, if some regular company has a network here, it’s been 0wn3d by the Chinese, and it’s being used to launch an attack against our military networks, our government sure as hell needs a legal means to tell that company to pull the plug NOW.
In “cyber warfare” this is the equivalent of the Chinese dropping an artillery piece in the company’s parking lot and starting firing. The government would be allowed to immediately intervene to stop that, so why not the above scenario?
What makes you think the government is capable of a) recognizing the threat, and 2) being able to do something about it?
And, most importantly, why should the government be the one to intervene? Private industry has the financial incentive to fix the problem, quickly so they can generate profits.