Reported by 2 outlets

Timeline

1. original reporting

   FBI and Coast Guard Board Two Oil Tankers Compromised by Foreign Hackers

   insicurezzadigitale.com · 25d ago · September 18th, 2026

   Tankers Under Attack: FBI and Coast Guard Board Two Vessels Compromised by Foreign Hackers

   On August 21, a joint US Coast Guard and FBI team boarded the VL Prosperity, a Very Large Crude Carrier bound for Texas with approximately two million barrels of Saudi crude oil, after onboard communications had been disrupted for 30 hours while the vessel transited the Strait of Gibraltar. Three days later, a second boarding targeted an LNG tanker also suspected of having compromised networks. The incident, reported on September 16, marks one of the most documented cases of computer intrusion on energy shipping headed to the United States.

   The VL Prosperity, owned by Liberian entity GMF GLV No. 4 SA and technically managed by South Korea's HMM Ocean Service, had loaded crude at Sidi Kerir, Egypt in late July, routed to the Gulf of Mexico via Gibraltar. Satellite and onboard communications went dark for approximately 30 hours during the strait transit, an anomaly sufficient to trigger alarm as the vessel approached US waters. On August 21, a team comprising Coast Guard law enforcement personnel, a Cyber Protection Team, a naval inspector, and FBI Cyber Action Team operators conducted what authorities described as a "comprehensive cybersecurity boarding and investigation" to verify the integrity of the ship's OT and IT systems.

   According to a crew member's account reported by Iranian news agency Mehr News, the attackers were reportedly able to interfere with engine parameters, potentially increasing RPMs and disabling fuel and lubricating oil tanks. If confirmed, this would indicate access not merely to the administrative IT network but to OT systems closer to the ship's propulsion controls. US authorities have not confirmed this specific detail and emphasize that no operational damage, vessel instability, crew danger, or environmental impact has resulted.

   US authorities refer generically to "foreign cyber actors" with no known claims or official attribution to a specific group. It is significant that Iranian news agency Mehr News was the first to give broad coverage to the incident, while some US outlets report that investigators are evaluating possible links to Tehran, amid rising geopolitical tensions in the Persian Gulf and a long history of Iranian cyber operations against Western energy and maritime targets. No official source has confirmed attribution, and the hypothesis of a common criminal group that simply found an opportunity in notoriously under-segmented onboard networks still remains plausible.

   via Mastodon https://insicurezzadigitale.com/petroliere-sotto-attacco-fbi-e-coast-guard-salgono-a-bordo-di-due-navi-compromesse-da-hacker-stranieri/

2. mentioned by insicurezzadigitale.com

   Under attack: FBI and Coast Guard board two ships compromised by foreign hackers

   insicurezzadigitale.com · 25d ago · September 19th, 2026

3. update from cyber.netsecops.io

   📰 FBI & Coast Guard Board Oil Tankers After Network Compromises The FBI and U.S. Coast Guard boarded two oil tankers in the Gulf of Mexico f

   cyber.netsecops.io · 23d ago · September 20th, 2026

   Coast Guard boarded two oil tankers in the Gulf of Mexico f

   via Mastodon https://cyber.netsecops.io/articles/fbi-and-coast-guard-board-oil-tankers-after-cyber-incidents/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=daily