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U.S. Coast Guard and FBI personnel boarded two commercial vessels traveling toward the United States in the Gulf of Mexico last month after authorities detected signs that hackers had compromised their computer networks.
The joint operations took place on August 21 and August 24 aboard two foreign-flagged ships, according to the agencies. The incidents come as U.S. officials confront growing maritime cybersecurity threats amid a series of cyber incidents that media reports have linked to Iran following the outbreak of conflict between Washington and Tehran.
The FBI said Coast Guard and bureau personnel boarded both vessels after receiving “indications that the networks of both vessels were compromised.” The Coast Guard confirmed only the August 21 operation and said foreign cyber actors were involved, without identifying those responsible.
Neither agency disclosed further details about the breaches or explained differences in their accounts. The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency referred questions about the incidents to the Coast Guard.
Corey Ranslem, CEO of maritime security company Dryad Global, said his firm confirmed that one of the affected ships was the Liberian-flagged VL Prosperity. Ship-tracking information from LSEG and MarineTraffic showed the vessel anchored near Galveston, Texas. Liberia’s flag registry did not immediately comment.
Iran’s Mehr news agency reported on August 20 that VL Prosperity experienced what it described as a major cyberattack while passing through the Strait of Gibraltar. The report said the vessel lost communications for approximately 30 hours.
Citing an unidentified crew member, Mehr also claimed hackers accessed engine-room systems, reduced engine cooling flow, increased engine speed and disabled the vessel’s fuel and engine-oil tank systems. The outlet did not identify who allegedly carried out the attack.
Ranslem warned that cyberattacks targeting individual ships are relatively achievable for sophisticated threat actors and could become increasingly common as maritime systems become more digitally connected.
“We are expecting these types of attacks to continue and will expand in the very near future,” he said.
