text: Domestic Sitrep: NEW CYBER STRATEGY, DECENTRALIZED FOOD PROCESSING, INDUSTRY SUPPLY CHAIN RISK MITIGATIONCybersecurity advocates are readdressing observed vulnerabilities to the domestic water supply after the approved infrastructure bill paid little attention to water protection. Instances such as the breach of the water treatment system in Oldsmar, Florida, highlight the need to treat water-system cybersecurity as a matter of national security. According to advocates, assessments show that rural treatment plants were most vulnerable to cyber exploitation. These reports are likely to get more movement from the Administration since the shift in cybersecurity focus after a bad year of cyber breaches on domestic infrastructure. After decades without a clear national Cybersecurity Strategy, current indicators highlight the Biden Administration is moving toward a United Kingdom (UK) model for national cyber strategy. The UK’s approach is to double down on regulation that features financial penalties for companies that fail to report cybersecurity incidents and implement “appropriate” cyber defenses. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced its plans on using its full legal authority against companies that do not secure customers’ data from known cyber vulnerabilities. The recent Log4j cyber vulnerability highlights the continuing limitations the federal government has on stopping cyber-attacks. A Chinese-based hacker group has already been observed using the Log4j vulnerability as an attack vector against academic institutions. The government is looking to push enforcement standards on private companies to elevate cyber mitigation overall while using Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA) response and recovery. Additionally, Congress is currently working on proposed regulations requiring reporting of cyber breaches within a certain time window from detection. It is doubtful that CISA currently has the capacity to process numerous reports of cyber intrusions throughout the nation if this legislation were to pass successfully. The Administration intends on putting the front-line work on the private industry after seeing little success on centralized efforts and strategies. The Federal government is investing one billion dollars to decrease domestic meatpacking and processing capacity. Currently, processing from farmers and ranchers is held within a few companies. Centralized vulnerabilities within the food supply chain have been recently seen in ransomware attacks, with recovery times lasting a week. Expect continued government efforts to mitigate perceived vulnerabilities within the supply chain using a carrot and stick approach with federal grants or financial penalties. Major industries are taking a serious look at Tesla’s model for mitigating supply chain risks. A key part of their process is to keep their design components in-house while owning critical parts of their supply chain from the source. Tesla’s success during the supply chain crunch made companies relook at their critical vulnerabilities and dependencies. Companies are looking at reviving old domestic factories and acquiring critical organizations and assets down their supply chain toward the source to mitigate dependencies. Cutting out the middleman and not outsourcing much of the process allows for faster supply acquisition and effective buffer stock management. Hardware design and software were two aspects internal to Tesla that industries are looking at replicating to increase resiliency against supply chain disruptions. – D.F.ECONOMIC WARNING INTSUMA new perspective on hyperinflationOver the Christmas break, I started reading a book called Studies in Hyperinflation & Stabilization. I have a few initial takeaways, followed by the book’s basic principles to avoid a hyperinflationary scenario.