The latest spate of auto recalls came last month when auto giants Honda, Nissan, Toyota and Mazda were focused to recall more than 3.4 million vehicles as a result of faulty air bags originating from Takata Corp in Japan. Since the initial announcement, BMW has come forward with a related recall action of more than 200,000 of their cars.

Collaboration is the solution for just about every aspect of supply-chain management except one: cybersecurity. Then it becomes the problem.

U.S. legislation has compelled a stepped-up interest in preventing counterfeit electronic parts from slipping into the supply chain. It has also raised more questions than it has answered. For many dealing with the enormous task of tracking, reporting and resolving issues associated with potential counterfeit parts, there is a collective hope that 2013 will bring clearer guidance on what needs to be done by whom and when.

The recent revelation that the owner of an Algerian cargo ship whose crew was held by Somali pirates paid them $2.6m in ransom is yet another indication that the rewards these denizens reap for their illegal, life-threatening work remain a serious stumbling block to ending maritime organized crime, said William H. Watson, president and COO of AdvanFort Company, a maritime security solutions provider.

ABI Research and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) have signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly develop a Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) to measure the cybersecurity development capabilities of sovereign nation states. The referential will be based on five categories: Legal Measures; Technical Measures; Organizational Measures; Capacity Building; and Cooperation.