Kickstart: Looking out for cyberattacks

No one wants to be a crime victim, obviously. But when it comes to cybercrime, a lot of us — and our businesses — are at a higher risk of being hacked than we realize.

"A determined hacker can hack almost anyone or any company," John Prost, a consultant in cyber crime, warned the Manufacturers Association for Plastics Processors back in 2018. "These guys are smart. They do their homework."

And as difficult as it is for an individual to recover their data, the complications only multiply when it comes to businesses. A friend of mine who owns a small business has spent more than eight months trying to recover the social media platform she'd developed to market her business, for one small example.

For a much bigger one, consider the plastics supplier to Toyota who was a victim of a cyberattack. The hit on Kojima Industries Corp. forced Toyota Motor Corp. to suspend production at 14 plants in Japan, a shutdown that will impact the production of 13,000 vehicles, PN's Sarah Kominek writes.

Our sister paper Rubber News writes that Bridgestone Americas has also shut down production at sites in North America and Latin America due to a possible cyberattack.

The next few days, you may be hearing a lot about global treaties related to plastics as the United Nations Environment Assembly meets in Kenya through March 2.

Plastics News' Steve Toloken has been following the work leading to this week's meeting, which is expected to hammer out the framework for a future treaty.

While you may be thinking that the actions by a U.N. group doesn't impact you, because your business is focused on customers within a narrow slice of a consumer industry, but you should still pay attention. The work being done in Kenya will be used to help individual countries, state and local governments determine priorities.

"The treaty will create an international megaphone on plastics policy, bigger than what exists now." Steve says.

It could add to momentum for expanded producer responsibilities laws, or add to momentum over time for virgin plastics taxes.

Steve, PN and our sister publications will be keeping an eye on the discussions, so keep an eye out for continues news alerts.

Last month our sister paper Automotive News broke news that Stellantis — the company that owns the Chrysler, Jeep and Fiat brands — is making it harder for its suppliers to profit from production or material breakthroughs.

Essentially, new contracts require suppliers to pass along any cost savings they achieve, but contain no way to recoup losses from increased costs.

Now Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares has said that the company expects its suppliers to help absorb the costs of converting to an electric vehicle future.

"In this transformation of the industry, it's not only about the [carmakers]," Tavares said during an earnings call. "It's also about the supplier base and, as you know, there is significant competition in the supplier base and that is going to be also a very nice Darwinian transition period for our suppliers as much as it is for the OEMs. It means that we are in the same boat, we are in the same transformation."

You can check out more from AN's Vince Bond here. But the story reminded PN Editor Don Loepp and I of different takes on the same thread, either: "Why molders hate automakers," or "Why do automakers hate suppliers?"