China has released a preliminary plan for handling data security problems as a precaution

China has put forth a proposed categorization system to handle data security issues, aiming to address concerns over substantial data breaches and cyberattacks within the country. This initiative, introduced by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), arrives amidst strained international relations, particularly with the United States, and follows an incident involving a hacker claiming access to extensive personal data from Shanghai police records.

The detailed plan, currently open for public feedback, outlines a four-tier classification system based on the severity of harm to national security, corporate networks, or the economy. For instance, incidents causing losses exceeding 1 billion yuan ($141 million) and impacting personal data of over 100 million individuals or sensitive information of more than 10 million people would be categorized as "especially grave," warranting a red alert.

The plan mandates swift actions for red and orange alert levels, requiring affected entities and local regulatory bodies to establish 24-hour response teams. Additionally, MIIT must be notified within ten minutes of the incident occurring. MIIT emphasizes the immediate reporting of serious incidents to local regulatory departments, strictly forbidding any delay, falsification, concealment, or omission of such reports.