The FBI and Coast Guard boarded oil tankers approaching the US coast after their networks were hacked.
Federal investigators are looking into how the tankers' onboard networks were compromised. In at least one case, the intrusion disrupted the ship's navigation and propulsion systems. The FBI and Coast Guard responded by boarding the vessels as they neared US waters. Details on how the hack occurred, or who is behind it, have not been made public.
Maritime networks often run legacy systems never designed with cybersecurity in mind, and tankers are exactly the kind of infrastructure that raises alarms when discussions turn to attacks on shipping. A compromised propulsion system on a vessel approaching a coastline turns a network intrusion into a physical safety question.
Shipping has been a soft target before, with ports and carriers reporting their own breaches. What is different here is confirmation that the intrusion reached navigation and propulsion, not just back-office systems - the detail that separates an IT headache from something federal agents board a ship to check on.