France probes 'foreign interference' after malware found on ferry

France is probing possible foreign interference after a Latvian national was arrested and charged over the discovery on a passenger ferry of malware capable of allowing the vessel’s operating systems to be controlled remotely, the Interior Minister said on Dec 17.

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The malware was found on the Fantastic, a ferry with a capacity of over 2,000 passengers belonging to Italian shipping company GNV, while it was docked in France’s Mediterranean port of Sete, Paris prosecutors said.

Italian authorities had warned France that the operating system of the vessel could have been infected by a malware known as a Remote Access Trojan, which allows a hacker to gain remote control of a system.

Two crew members, a Latvian and a Bulgarian, whose identities had been signalled to France by the Italian authorities, were detained last week.

The Bulgarian was freed but the Latvian was charged and placed under arrest in the investigation.