2025.08.14 The Brewing Storm: Rising Wholesale Costs & Critical Cyber Vulnerabilities

In this episode of "The Brewing Storm," we track two significant signals from August 14th, 2025, that directly impact your planning: a surprising jump in wholesale inflation and a critical new cyber threat.Key takeaways include:• Economic Impact: The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a 0.9% increase in July's Producer Price Index (PPI) from June, an unexpectedly sharp rise. This includes a 1.1% jump in services prices and a 0.7% increase in goods. Notably, fresh and dry vegetables surged by 38.9% and diesel fuel by 11.8% at the wholesale level. These costs are being passed directly to consumers, complicating the outlook for the Federal Reserve and interest rates. Listeners should expect higher grocery bills and consider strategies like stocking shelf-stable foods.• Cyber Threat: The Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued a serious warning about two critical vulnerabilities in Enable N-central software that are being actively exploited. This software is widely used by Managed Service Providers (MSPs), creating a major supply chain risk. A compromise could potentially affect dozens or hundreds of small and medium businesses simultaneously, with 60% of small businesses failing within six months after a major cyber attack. CISA has set an urgent August 20th deadline for federal agencies to patch.