PARIS (AP) — France's counterespionage agency is investigating a suspected cyberattack plot targeting an international passenger ferry, authorities said Wednesday.
A Latvian crew member is in custody facing charges of having acted for an unidentified foreign power, French officials said. But Interior Minister Laurent Nunez appeared to hint that Russia is suspected, saying: “At the moment, foreign interference very often comes from same country."
France and other European allies of Ukraine allege that Russia is waging “hybrid warfare” against them, using sabotage, assassinations, cyberattacks, disinformation and other hostile acts that are often hard to quickly trace back to Moscow.
Intelligence shared by Italian authorities tipped off the General Directorate of Internal Security — France's special counterespionage and counterterror intelligence service — that software sometimes used by cybercriminals may have infected computer systems aboard a ferry docked in the French Mediterranean port of Sète, the Paris prosecutor’s office said.
The so-called RAT software — which allows users to control computer systems remotely — could have been used to take control of the ferry's computers, the prosecutor’s office said. Its statement did not name ferry.
Nunez told public broadcaster France Info that “individuals tried to gain access to a ship’s data-processing system." He described it as "a very serious affair." Asked if the suspected intention was to hijack the vessel, he said: “We don’t know."
He added: "The investigators appear to be following a trail of interference ... foreign interference.”
Police on Friday arrested two of the ferry's crew members — one Latvian, the other Bulgarian — who Italian authorities had identified as suspects, the prosecutor’s office said. The Bulgarian was subsequently released without charge after questioning.
The Latvian national is being held on a preliminary criminal conspiracy charge and two preliminary charges of hacking-related offenses with the goal of serving the interests of an unnamed foreign power, the prosecutor’s office said.
It said search raids were also carried out in Latvia. Latvian state police said they had no comment.
The ferry is now back in operation after being held in port for security checks to its computer system, the prosecutor’s office said.
AP European Security Correspondent Emma Burrows in London contributed.
FILE - The logo of the French General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI) is pictured in Paris, Monday Aug. 31, 2020. .(Stephane de Sakutin, Pool photo via AP, File)
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. (AP) — President Donald Trump will undertake one of the most solemn duties facing the commander in chief on Wednesday when he will witness the dignified transfer for two Iowa National Guard members killed in an attack in the Syrian desert.
The ritual at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware honors U.S. service members killed in action. Trump, who traveled to Dover several times in his first term, once described it as “the toughest thing I have to do” as president.
The two guardsmen killed in Syria on Saturday were Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown, according to the U.S. Army. Both were members of the 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment. The men have been hailed as heroes by the Iowa National Guard.
A U.S. civilian working as an interpreter, identified Tuesday as Ayad Mansoor Sakat of Macomb, Michigan, was also killed. Three other members of the Iowa National Guard were injured in the attack. The Pentagon has not identified them.
They were among hundreds of U.S. troops deployed in eastern Syria as part of a coalition fighting the Islamic State group.
During the process at Dover, transfer cases draped with the American flag holding the remains of fallen soldiers are carried from military aircraft to an awaiting vehicle. The vehicle then transports them to the mortuary facility at the base, where the fallen service members are prepared for their final resting place.
Trump told reporters over the weekend that he was mourning the deaths of the soldiers and vowed retaliation.
The attack Saturday comes after a rapprochement between the U.S. and Syria, bringing the former pariah state into a U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State.
Trump has forged a relationship with interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, the onetime leader of an Islamic insurgent group who led the ouster of former President Bashar Assad.
Trump, who met with al-Sharaa last month at the White House, told reporters on Monday that the attack had nothing to do with the Syrian leader, who Trump described as “devastated by what happened.”
During his first term, Trump visited Dover in 2017 to honor a U.S. Navy SEAL killed during a raid in Yemen, in 2019 for two Army officers whose helicopter crashed in Afghanistan, and in 2020 for two Army soldiers killed in Afghanistan when a person dressed in an Afghan army uniform opened fire.
President Donald Trump talks to reporters as he departs from the South Lawn of the White House, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Washington, en route to Baltimore to attend the Army-Navy football game. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
This undated combo photo created with images released by the Iowa National Guard shows Sgts. William Nathaniel Howard, left, and Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar. (Iowa National Guard via AP)
