U.S. Congress should pass laws to boost cyber defense, as the country is in "a type of cyber Cold War," Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told a congressional panel Thursday.

Clapper claimed the U.S. is losing some 300 billion U.S. dollars annually to cyber-based corporate espionage, and sustaining daily intrusions against public systems controlling everything from major defense weapons systems and public air traffic to electricity and banking.

Speaking at a hearing of the House Select Intelligence Committee on worldwide threats, the intelligence boss urged lawmakers to pass a bill that forces intelligence sharing between the government and the private sector, following the model of the Defense Industrial Base pilot program launched by then-Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn last year.

Also appearing at the hearing were Central Intelligence Agency Director David Petraeus, Defense Intelligence Agency Director Ronald Burgess and Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Robert Mueller.

Mueller also said it is important to deal with the growing cyber threat, which he believes "will equal or surpass the threat from terrorism in the near future."