Roadside speed cameras infected with virus
Victoria Police officials announced that they are withdrawing all speed camera infringement notices issued state wide from June 6 due to a virus in the cameras.
“That does not mean they [the infringement notices] won’t not be re-issued,” Assistant Commissioner Doug Fryer said, explaining that the police department want to be certain the red light and speed cameras were working correctly.
Acting Deputy Commissioner Ross Guenther said on Friday that 55 cameras had been exposed to the ransomware virus but now it has been found 280 cameras had been exposed.
The cameras are not connected to the internet but the virus entered the camera system after a maintenance worker mistakenly connected a USB stick with the virus on it.
Assistant Commissioner Fryer said that roughly 1643 ticked would be withdrawn and another five and a half thousand tickets pending in the system would be embargoed.
Fryer is expectant for the 7500 to 8000 tickets affected by the virus to be re-issued but the police will not re-issue tickets until police had reviewed the cameras to ensure they are working correctly.
The 280 fixed cameras will continue to operate and tickets will be issued at a later date. The department’s 1000 highway patrol officers will also continue to write tickets.
The “WannaCry” malware caused the cameras to repeatedly reboot. Fryer explained that there was no indication the malware had caused inaccurate radar readings but the police were being “over cautious” to maintain faith in the system.
“We’ve got one of the best camera systems worldwide and to have an issue like this is disappointing,” he said. “We need to make sure the integrity of our system is sacrosanct and it is beyond reproach.”
Police Minister Lisa Neville asked officials to assess how they can strengthen their oversight of the speed camera contractors and how they were maintained.