{"id":639593,"date":"2025-12-18T04:58:24","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T04:58:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/639593\/"},"modified":"2025-12-18T04:58:24","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T04:58:24","slug":"france-launches-foreign-interference-probe-after-malware-discovered-on-mediterranean-ferry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/639593\/","title":{"rendered":"France Launches Foreign Interference Probe After Malware Discovered on Mediterranean Ferry"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Remote-access malware discovered aboard an Italian-operated ferry in S\u00e8te has prompted arrests, an intelligence-led investigation, and fears of state-backed interference.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>French authorities are investigating a suspected foreign interference operation after malware capable of remote system control was discovered aboard a passenger ferry docked in the Mediterranean port of Sete, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lemonde.fr\/en\/france\/article\/2025\/12\/17\/france-probes-foreign-interference-after-malware-found-on-ferry_6748587_7.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a report<\/a> from Le Monde with AFP.<\/p>\n<p>The malware was found on the Fantastic, a passenger ferry with a capacity of over 2,000 operated by Italian shipping company GNV, part of Swiss-based MSC Group. Italian authorities alerted France that the vessel\u2019s operating system may have been infected with a Remote Access Trojan (RAT), which enables hackers to gain remote control of a system.<\/p>\n<p>Two crew members\u2014a Latvian and a Bulgarian\u2014were detained last week after being flagged by Italian authorities. The Bulgarian was released, but the Latvian was charged and remains under arrest. The Paris prosecutor\u2019s office has opened an investigation into a suspected bid \u201cby an organized group to attack an automated data-processing system, with the aim of serving the interests of a foreign power.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Very Serious Matter\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Interior Minister Laurent Nu\u00f1ez called the incident \u201ca very serious matter\u201d and confirmed investigators are examining potential foreign interference, according to the report. While not explicitly naming Russia, he stated: \u201cThese days, one country is very often behind foreign interference.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The investigation is being led by France\u2019s domestic intelligence service, the General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI). After being cordoned off in port, the Fantastic was subjected to an emergency inspection by the DGSI, which led to the seizure of several items. The vessel was subsequently cleared to sail after technical checks ruled out danger to passengers.<\/p>\n<p>Emergency searches were also conducted in Latvia with support from Eurojust, the European Union\u2019s judicial cooperation arm.<\/p>\n<p>The Latvian suspect\u2019s lawyer, Thibault Bailly, has disputed the Russian interference theory, stating that \u201cthe investigation will shed light on several aspects of this case that are still unclear. In particular, it will demonstrate that this case is not as worrying as it may have initially seemed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/gcaptain.com\/wp-content\/themes\/gCaptain-Theme\/assets\/images\/gcaptain-new-gray-logo.svg\" alt=\"logo\"\/><br \/>\n\t\tSubscribe for Daily Maritime Insights<\/p>\n<p>Sign up for gCaptain\u2019s newsletter and never miss an update<\/p>\n<p>        \u2014 trusted by our 107,543 members<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Remote-access malware discovered aboard an Italian-operated ferry in S\u00e8te has prompted arrests, an intelligence-led investigation, and fears of&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":639594,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5309],"tags":[31424,13312,2000,299,196941,36,196942],"class_list":{"0":"post-639593","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-france","8":"tag-cyber-attack","9":"tag-cyber-security","10":"tag-eu","11":"tag-europe","12":"tag-fantastic-ferry","13":"tag-france","14":"tag-passenger-vessels"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115738805788789822","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=639593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639593\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/639594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=639593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=639593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=639593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}