Second Seafarer Arrested in Ferry Malware Case

 

Italian police have arrested a second Latvian suspect in connection with an attempted malware attack aboard a Mediterranean ferry, expanding the international scope of the investigation. 

The inquiry started when vessel operator GNV discovered the installation of a Remote Access Trojan (RAT) on certain IT systems aboard the ferry Fantastic, and "neutralized" it "without consequences." On the vessel's arrival at the French port of Sete, France's secret police force boarded the ship and detained two crewmembers, one Latvian and one Bulgarian national. The Latvian crewmember was charged with "conspiring to penetrate a data processing system on behalf of a foreign power" and related offenses. 

The crime is international in scope, and French security agencies believe that it was directed by a foreign nation. 
On Wednesday, authorities in Naples arrested a second Latvian national on board a vessel in Naples - raising the prospect that two different ships may have been involved. 

The case of the second detainee has been transferred to the Genoa prosecutor's office, which brought the original charges. 

While Russia has not been officially named as the suspected foreign power behind the malware attempt, French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez noted that investigators are treating it as a case of foreign interference, and "at the moment, foreign interference very often comes from the same country." 

Top image: the ferry Fantastic (JordiFerrer / CC BY SA 4.0)