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Monday, 28 February 2022

Russia-Ukraine war impacts supply of sunflower oil, chips, and car parts + Cyberattacks are continuing the warfare on another front

Latest commodity victim of the Russia-Ukraine war: Sunflower oil. Russia’s ongoing war on Ukraine has sent a slew of commodity prices surging, including wheat, natural gas, and sunflower oil, the Wall Street Journal reports. The two countries together account for 80% of the world’s supply of sunflower oil, which is now threatened by port closures in Ukraine, Western sanctions on Russia, and shipping disruptions, the newspaper reports. Egypt imported around 54.5% of its sunflower oil from Ukraine in 2020, according to the most recent data, with the price of the subsidized oil — which is now reviewed on a quarterly basis — surging 23.5% last May.

The automotive industry, which was already struggling with the global chip crisis, is now facing unexpected war-induced supply chain disruptions: Car factories across Europe have been shutting down since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatened to disrupt the supply of car components crucial to the production of semiconductors and batteries, among other crucial goods for the industry, the WSJ adds. “Ukraine is not central to our supply chain, but suddenly we discovered that when this part is missing, it is,” said a spokesman from Volkswagen, which was forced to halt production at its plants in Germany due to supply chain disruptions in Ukraine.

And ongoing cyberattacks aren’t helping: Toyota suspended all its Japan operations today after one of its component suppliers was the target of a suspected cyberattack, according to Reuters. The stoppage will lead to the foregone production output of 13k cars that would have been manufactured. The attack came just after Japan joined the West in sanctioning Russia, but it’s unclear if the two incidents are related.

The cyberattacks aren’t just targeting companies: Hackers are using Facebook to target individual Ukrainian officials. Over the past two days, Facebook parent company Meta uncovered around 40 fake accounts across Facebook and Instagram operating from Russia and Ukraine that have been targeting Ukrainian military officials and public figures, Meta Platforms said in a statement. Meta pointed the finger at Ghostwriter, a group which has been previously linked to “malicious cyber activities” targeting members of parliament, government officials, politicians, and members of the press and civil society in the EU. Facebook parent Meta called on those residing in Russia or Ukraine to ensure the security of their online accounts.

Speaking of which: Your choice of internet passwords are probably not exactly Fort Knox. As cybersecurity experts predict a global surge in cyberattacks amid the Russia-Ukraine war (as shown above), it may be time to review some of the passwords you use, as mobile security firm Lookout reports that leaked credentials on the dark web often have similar passwords. The list of passcodes includes basic numbers like “123456” and unsophisticated, memorable phrases like “Iloveyou”, CNBC reports.

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