Tech & Sourcing @ Morgan Lewis

As discussed in a post from earlier this week, President Joseph Biden issued an executive order on May 12, 2021 to improve the nation’s cybersecurity. The White House has put its proverbial money where its mouth is by proposing a $58.4 billion information technology spending plan that includes $9.8 billion specifically earmarked for civilian government cybersecurity measures as well as an expedited push towards SaaS and cloud services solutions.

As many of our readers are aware, President Joseph Biden issued an executive order on May 12 to improve the nation’s cybersecurity. While much of the executive order focuses on strengthening the federal government’s networks from cybersecurity threats, “[t]he private sector must adapt to the continuously changing threat environment, ensure its products are built and operate securely, and partner with the Federal Government to foster a more secure cyberspace.”

Draft law “On Activities of Foreign Companies in the Internet in the Territory of the Russian Federation,” introduced to the State Duma, a lower chamber of the Russian parliament, on May 21, 2021, aims to extend Russian jurisdiction to certain non-Russian internet businesses by requiring them to open local offices in Russia and to comply with orders of Roskomnadzor, a Russian internet and data privacy regulator. Failure to do so may result in restrictive measures limiting ability to work with Russian users and businesses.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) on May 10 published final guidelines on outsourcing to cloud service providers (ESMA Guidelines) to help firms and competent authorities identify, address, and monitor the risks and challenges arising from cloud outsourcing arrangements. Subject to a few clarifications, the ESMA Guidelines are broadly consistent with the draft guidelines.