The Secretary for Security, Mr Tang Ping-keung, today (November 1) hosted a briefing at the Central Government Offices on the consultation report on the proposed legislative framework to enhance protection of the computer systems of critical infrastructures. He briefed the stakeholders on the outcomes of the consultation conducted months earlier and the way forward of the legislative exercise, and responded to the major concerns from the submissions received during the consultation period. He stressed that the Government will continue to organise working meetings with the stakeholders from different sectors to maintain communication and listen to their views.
Over 200 stakeholders attended the briefing session, including local and foreign chambers of commerce, potential organisations to be designated as critical infrastructure operators (CIOs), cybersecurity service providers, cybersecurity audit firms, proposed designated authorities under the proposed legislation, sectoral professional bodies and statutory bodies.
Mr Tang reiterated to the participants that the proposed legislation on the protection of the computer systems of critical infrastructures aims to enhance the security of computer systems of Hong Kong as a whole by reducing the likelihood of disruption or damage due to cyber attacks and facilitating the smooth operation of essential services through stipulating three types of obligations, namely organisational, preventive, as well as incident reporting and response, to be fulfilled by the CIOs.
He said that 53 submissions were received during the consultation in July this year, of which 52 (including 47 from the industry) supported the legislation or raised positive suggestions. He responded to some major concerns from the submissions, including actively considering to relax the incident reporting time, reiterating that the legislation has no extraterritorial effect nor does it target personal data and commercial secrets.
Mr Tang and other officials from the Security Bureau (SB) answered questions on various areas by the participants at the briefing. He said that the SB is actively considering some of the suggestions received during the consultation period, and ten working meetings for stakeholders will also be held starting this month to refine the relevant provisions, striving to finalise the bill for introduction to the Legislative Council this year.
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