The House has passed legislation aimed at helping businesses protect their networks against sophisticated foreign hackers. But with a White House veto threat and no clear path in the Senate, the bill -- and the companies that support it -- are in limbo.

Under the legislation, enterprises and the federal government could share technical data without worrying about anti-trust or classification laws. The bill also would grant businesses legal immunity if hacked so long as they acted in good faith to protect their networks.

Civil liberties groups and privacy advocates fought against the House measure because they say it would leave Americans vulnerable to spying by military intelligence agencies. While not named in the bill, the National Security Agency would likely take a central role in analyzing threat data.