Commentary On Aug. 9, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken promised to punish Iran for attacking an oil tanker near the entrance to the Persian Gulf. He specifically mentioned an attack that occurred in late July. An explosive blast killed two crewmen. The Defense Department believes Iran used drones to deliver the munitions. The safety of commercial tankers, freighters, and barges matters a great deal. Ships transport natural resources, food, and manufactured goods; all told, they move roughly 90 percent of the world’s annual trade in volume and value. Physical attacks on ships like the one Blinken condemned leave physical evidence. Pirate attacks have their own category: theft at sea. Attacks by aerial drones, robot ships, commandos, and saboteurs may give a nation-state plausible deniability, but the physical evidence offers leads. However, sea cyberhacking and hijacking is emerging as a real threat to the global economy and environment. A sea …