(Image credit: Nicolas Parent/L’Independant/MAXPPP)
French authorities have arrested a Latvian national suspected of installing malware aboard an Italian passenger ferry while it was docked in southern France, after investigators determined that infected onboard systems could potentially have been accessed remotely. The case, reported by Le Monde, is now being handled by an investigating judge in Paris and has drawn attention to how closely modern ship navigation might sit alongside conventional IT systems.
The vessel involved, the Fantastic, is operated by Italian shipping company Grandi Navi Veloci and was docked in the Mediterranean port of Sète whe…
(Image credit: Nicolas Parent/L’Independant/MAXPPP)
French authorities have arrested a Latvian national suspected of installing malware aboard an Italian passenger ferry while it was docked in southern France, after investigators determined that infected onboard systems could potentially have been accessed remotely. The case, reported by Le Monde, is now being handled by an investigating judge in Paris and has drawn attention to how closely modern ship navigation might sit alongside conventional IT systems.
The vessel involved, the Fantastic, is operated by Italian shipping company Grandi Navi Veloci and was docked in the Mediterranean port of Sète when the malware was discovered. Italian authorities had warned France that the vessel’s operating system could have been infected by a Remote Access Trojan (RAT), which enables hackers to gain remote control of a system.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez has publicly described the incident as a case of suspected foreign interference, stating that investigators are examining whether a state actor was involved. He stopped short of naming a country but noted that such interference has become a recurring feature of recent investigations across Europe.
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The ferry investigation is unfolding alongside a separate French probe into a cyberattack on the Interior Ministry’s email servers, for which a 22-year-old suspect was arrested earlier this week.
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Luke James is a freelance writer and journalist. Although his background is in legal, he has a personal interest in all things tech, especially hardware and microelectronics, and anything regulatory.