French intelligence services are investigating a suspected foreign operation after high-tech spyware was seized aboard a ferry docked in Sète, in southern France, Politico reported.
According to Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, perpetrators have tried to breach a ship’s IT system. The Paris prosecutor’s office said the probe was launched after French authorities received intelligence from Italy indicating that the ferry’s IT system had been infected with a remote access tool. The DGSI, France’s domestic intelligence agency, is investigating the situation.
The case comes amid a series of suspected hybrid warfare incidents in France in recent weeks, including drones flying over a sensitive submarine base and destabilization efforts targeting major Paris landmarks, with Russia often cited by analysts as a likely sponsor.
Two crew members, one Bulgarian and one Latvian, were arrested last Friday. The Bulgarian suspect has since been released, while the Latvian national remains in custody and has been charged with conspiring to breach a data processing system on behalf of a foreign power. Parallel investigations have been carried out in Latvia with local authorities.
Le Parisien, which first broke the story, said DGSI agents seized a sophisticated spying tool capable of remotely controlling infected IT systems and reported that Russia was suspected of being behind the operation. However, neither the prosecutor’s office nor Nuñez confirmed Moscow’s involvement. Nuñez added that investigators have encountered similar equipment in previous cases.