The cyber espionage group known as Mustang Panda introduced malware over the past five months to gain remote access to “computer systems belonging to cargo shipping companies based in Norway, Greece, and the Netherlands, including some that appeared to be aboard the cargo ships themselves,” according to the Slovakia-based cyber security firm ESET...

According to the report, Mustang Panda, which has been accused of carrying out espionage against governments and other organizations across Asia and more recently in Europe, has used similar malware tools in previous spying campaigns. The “remote access trojan” type of malware allows an attacker to gain full access to a device and issue commands, after breaking in through an email, a malicious website, vulnerable software or an unprotected machine.

It was the first time evidence had emerged that a China-linked cyber espionage group was focusing on commercial shipping, researchers said.