French authorities arrested a citizen of Latvia for installing malware on a ferry 0 5

The program was discovered on a vessel of the Italian company GNV, anchored in the port of Sète in the Mediterranean Sea. Italian authorities had previously warned France about a potential threat - the infection of the system with a remote access Trojan (RAT).

Last week, two crew members were detained in connection with the case - citizens of Latvia and Bulgaria. The Bulgarian citizen was released, while the Latvian citizen was charged and placed in custody until the trial.

The Paris prosecutor's office has launched an investigation into the "attempt by an organized group to attack an automated data processing system with the aim of serving foreign interests."

"This is a very serious case (...) individuals attempted to hack the data processing system on the vessel," said the French Minister of the Interior this morning on the France Info radio station. Nunez also noted that the incident is extremely serious, and an investigation is underway into possible foreign state interference. He did not specify whether the intent was to divert the vessel from its course and did not name the initiating country, only emphasizing that "recently, such interference often comes from one state."

The ferry was cordoned off in the port, after which it was inspected by DGSI experts, who confiscated several items. The ferry was then allowed to continue its journey.

Emergency searches were also conducted in Latvia with the support of the European Union (EU) Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation.

The lawyer for the Latvian citizen, Thibaut Bailly, stated that the version of Russian interference that appeared in the press "seems excessive," and emphasized that the investigation will show that the situation is not as alarming as it seemed at first glance.