FBI agents board oil tanker to investigate cyberattack

U.S. military personnel and FBI agents boarded the large oil tanker VL Prosperity to investigate the cyberattack. This is reported by Bloomberg with reference to the Coast Guard.

VL Prosperity was flying a foreign flag towards Texas. Coast Guard and FBI officials boarded the ship on August 21.

The reason for the inspection was signs of access by foreign hackers to the onboard networks of the ship. According to tracking services, the tanker is now located near the city of Galveston.

The Coast Guard said the captain, crew and shipowner were fully cooperating with the investigation. The incident did not cause failures in the work of the tanker, there were no injuries among the crew members.

At the end of August, the Iranian agency Mehr reported that after a cyber attack in the Strait of Gibraltar, VL Prosperity had 30 hours of communication interrupted.