Daily Brief, October 25, 2026
Daily Brief, October 25, 2026
Top Story
A drone sank the cargo ship Khoryv 13 nautical miles off the Romanian port of Constanta, killing at least one sailor and leaving three missing; Romania's president blamed Russia
At least seven cargo ships have been hit off Romania and Bulgaria in the past two weeks, with about 30 sailors dead or missing.
Source: gCaptain
United States
Cyber Threats
The FBI and CISA warned that the SafePay ransomware group has struck more than 600 critical infrastructure providers since 2024
SafePay, the ransomware group, gets in through compromised logins and known flaws in internet-facing devices, often through VPN connections, according to an advisory the FBI and CISA, the US cyber defense agency, issued jointly with European authorities. They recommend patching known exploited flaws and requiring multifactor authentication, especially on VPN accounts. They also advise keeping encrypted offline backups that can't be altered and segmenting networks.
Source: Cybersecurity Dive
Supply Chain Risk
Canadian police services including Winnipeg's, Ottawa's and Toronto's suspended their use of Crime Stoppers after CBC found more than 1.5 million tips stolen from Navigate360's P3 platform, which holds them
The tips were taken last March by a hacktivist group, and CBC found the data included identifiable personal information, in some cases enough to contact a tipster.
Source: CBC
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright designated helium a critical material under the Energy Act of 2020, citing its role in American manufacturing, chipmaking especially
The Energy Department says helium has no viable substitute in many critical applications, and that global demand is growing faster than production, raising supply risk for US manufacturers. Limited refining capacity and long permitting timelines hold back US output despite large domestic deposits.
Source: US Department of Energy
Around the World
Cyber Threats
A Chinese-speaking hacker used AI agents to break into the websites of more than 100 companies, including Deere and SharkNinja, at an estimated $5,000 in AI costs, Reuters reports
A researcher at the security firm NorForge, Snorre Fagerland, found the operation while scanning the internet for exposed installations of Cairn, an open-source AI platform.
Source: Reuters, via BNN Bloomberg
Supply Chain Risk
Steamship Mutual, a ship insurer, reissued its Black Sea war-risk zone on October 1st, and shipowners with vessels in or entering it are told to contact underwriters for terms
Its directors issued notice canceling all of their hull war policies, which cover ships against war, piracy and terrorism, then reinstated them with the new zone written in. The zone is the Black Sea including Russian and Ukrainian territorial waters, but not those of the other countries bordering it.
Source: Steamship Mutual Underwriting Association (Europe) Limited, Circular E.142
Geopolitical Shocks
Brazil's presidential runoff on October 25th is a technical tie in the final Futura poll, which has Flavio Bolsonaro at 50.1 percent of valid votes and Lula at 49.9, inside a 2.2-point margin of error
Futura Inteligencia surveyed 2,000 voters by telephone on October 23rd and 24th.
Source: The Rio Times
Senegal's National Assembly law committee rejected the government's own revised 2026 budget bill, with the full chamber, where the governing Pastef party holds a large majority, due to take it up on October 27th
[FR · RFI]
The committee rejected the bill on October 24th, with Pastef citing several of the five conditions it had set that the government did not meet, among them sharing the government's World Bank agreements with lawmakers, trimming the cost of the state and controlling special funds.
Source: RFI Afrique
Clashes between Ethiopia's Somali and Oromia regional forces killed at least five people and pushed more than 10,000 across the border into Kenya
[FR · RFI]
The monitoring group ACLED counted at least five dead in several days of fighting over a disputed border area around Moyale, the French public broadcaster RFI reports.
Source: RFI Afrique
Iran's planning and budget chief says part of the country's war-damaged gas facilities is back in production, while urging households to cut gas use by 10 percent this winter
[FA · Shana, Iran's oil ministry outlet]
Shana, the Iranian oil ministry's own news service, quotes Hamid Pourmohammadi, head of the Plan and Budget Organization, saying the ministry's work has repaired part of the damage and returned it to production.
Source: Shana
Regulatory Horizon
FATF, the global money-laundering watchdog, meets in Paris from October 28th to 30th for its first full session under a UK presidency, and will review the progress of countries on its increased-monitoring list
FATF Week starts on October 26th, and the watchdog's main decision-making body meets from October 28th to 30th under its new president, Giles Thomson.
Source: AML Intelligence
Also Today
Canada and Ontario committed C$8.7 billion to steel, autos and critical minerals as 50 percent American tariffs take hold
Source: Peacock Tariff Consulting
EU trade ministers discussed widening the bloc's trade defenses from hybrid cars to chemicals, machinery, farm and food products and pharmaceuticals
Source: Peacock Tariff Consulting
High-sulfur fuel oil now costs more in Singapore than the crude it is refined from
Source: OilPrice
Shipping US Gulf Coast crude to China cost as much as $80 million a voyage at early October's record high, about ten times the average before the Iran war, and is now about $60 million
Source: OilPrice
Get the full risk analysis every Sunday. Manage your subscription.
