PARIS ‌- France is investigating ⁤possible foreign interference after a passenger ferry was⁤ infected with⁣ malware ⁤that ⁣could allow the ship to ⁣be remotely controlled, the‍ interior minister said on Wednesday.

A Latvian was arrested and charged after the malware was found on a ferry with a capacity of over 2,000 passengers. The Fantastic, belonging to the Italian shipping company GNV, was docked in France’s Mediterranean port of Sete at the time, Paris prosecutors said.

Authorities did not name Russia,but France and other European governments have recently ⁢warned that Moscow is stepping up a campaign of ⁣interference more than three and a ‌half years into its war against Ukraine.

Italian‍ authorities had warned France that the vessel’s operating​ system ⁣could have been infected by a malware known as a Remote Access Trojan (RAT) which allows a⁣ hacker to gain remote control of a system.

Two crew members, a Latvian and a⁣ Bulgarian, whose identities had been signalled to France by the Italian authorities, were detained last week. The Bulgarian was freed but the Latvian charged ⁣and placed under arrest in the investigation.

The office of the Paris prosecutor said late Tuesday it had opened an investigation into ⁤a suspected bid “by an‍ organised group to attack an automated data-processing system, with the aim of serving the interests of a foreign power”.

GNV emphasised ⁣it had been the first to alert Italian authorities, telling AFP in a statement that it had “identified and neutralised an attempt at‌ intrusion on the company’s computer systems, which are effectively