Cybersecurity teams with the U.S. Coast Guard and the FBI boarded two U.S.-bound oil tankers last month after hackers reportedly compromised at least one of the ship’s networks and took control of its navigation, propulsion, and cargo systems.
According to a joint statement shared with TechCrunch, the agencies boarded the vessels in the Gulf of Mexico between August 21 and August 24 to “ensure integrity of the vessel’s operational and information technology systems following indications that the networks of both vessels were compromised.”
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CBS News confirmed that one of the tankers is VL Prosperity, a 333-meter oil tanker that can hold over 2 million barrels of oil. According to VesselFinder, the tanker is currently located in the Gulf of Mexico.
Citing Iranian media, CBS said hackers compromised the ship on August 7 while traveling from Egypt to the United States and interfered with the ship’s speed and fuel systems. The tanker also lost communications for more than a day, per CBS.
It’s unclear who is behind the attacks, but CBS News said the U.S. is looking into whether Iran is behind the hack. Iran has been behind a multitude of hacks in recent months following the start of the U.S. and Israel-led war against Tehran, which killed Iran’s supreme leader in February. Iranian-backed hackers have since launched a destructive hack at medical device maker Stryker, hacked the mass transit system in Los Angeles, and compromised over a hundred water facilities across the United States in response to the widespread U.S. bombing of Iran. CISA has called the attacks “opportunistic” in nature.
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