New Regulations On Cybersecurity: Release Of Draft Regulations On The Cybersecurity Multi-Level Protection Scheme

Following China's Cybersecurity Law (CSL), which came into effect on June 1, 2017 and requires the implementation of a multi-level protection scheme for cybersecurity (article 21), China's Ministry of Public Security (MPS) issued a new draft Regulation on the Cybersecurity Multi-Level Protection Scheme (MLPS) for public comments in June this year.

The draft MLPS amends the existing MLPS, initially released in 2007, requiring, among other things, that "network operators" comply with cybersecurity requirements based on the level of risk assigned to them. Because network operators, broadly defined in the CSL as "owners, administrators of the network and network service providers," could in practice cover any entity operating a computer network in China, including intranets, the draft will, once finalized, present another compliance challenge for multinational corporations.