France probes 'foreign interference' after malware found on ferry

France is probing possible foreign interference after a passenger ferry was infected with malware that could allow the ship to be remotely controlled, the interior minister said Wednesday.

- 

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

Authorities did not name Russia, but France and other European governments have recently warned that Moscow is stepping up a campaign of interference more than three and a half years into its war against Ukraine.

Italian authorities had warned France that the vessel’s operating system could have been infected by a malware known as a Remote access Trojan (RAT) which allows a hacker to gain remote control of a system.