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Roadside Cameras Infected with WannaCry Virus Invalidate 8,000 Traffic Tickets (yahoo.com)
Long-time Slashdot reader nri tipped us off to a developing story in Victoria, Australia. Yahoo News reports:
Victoria Police officials announced on Saturday, June 24, they were withdrawing all speed camera infringement notices issued statewide from June 6 after a virus in the cameras turned out to be more widespread than first thought. "That does not mean they [the infringement notices] won't not be re-issued," Assistant Commissioner Doug Fryer told reporters, explaining that he wants to be sure the red light and speed cameras were working correctly. Acting Deputy Commissioner Ross Guenther told reporters on Friday that 55 cameras had been exposed to the ransomware virus, but they've now determined 280 cameras had been exposed. The cameras are not connected to the internet, but a maintenance worker unwittingly connected a USB stick with the virus on it to the camera system on June 6.
Fryer said that about 1643 tickets would be withdrawn -- up from the 590 that police had announced on Friday -- and another five and a half thousand tickets pending in the system would be embargoed. Fryer said he was optimistic the 7500 to 8000 tickets affected could be re-issued, but for now police would not issue new tickets until police had reviewed the cameras to ensure they were functioning properly... The "WannaCry" malware caused the cameras to continually reboot, Fryer said. Fryer said there was no indication the malware had caused inaccurate radar readings, but police were being "over cautious" to maintain public faith in the system.
Last week Victoria's Police Minister was "openly furious" with the private camera operator, saying the group hadn't notified the relevant authorities about the infection.
Fryer said that about 1643 tickets would be withdrawn -- up from the 590 that police had announced on Friday -- and another five and a half thousand tickets pending in the system would be embargoed. Fryer said he was optimistic the 7500 to 8000 tickets affected could be re-issued, but for now police would not issue new tickets until police had reviewed the cameras to ensure they were functioning properly... The "WannaCry" malware caused the cameras to continually reboot, Fryer said. Fryer said there was no indication the malware had caused inaccurate radar readings, but police were being "over cautious" to maintain public faith in the system.
Last week Victoria's Police Minister was "openly furious" with the private camera operator, saying the group hadn't notified the relevant authorities about the infection.
The real story here is that the cameras were farmed out to a for-profit company.
A "sin tax" is one thing and bad enough, giving a third party a chance to make a profit from it hurts everyone apart from the profiteers.
Time to start looking at the former government for kickbacks or a special job for the guy who sold the farm.
This should be understood on the background of how speed cameras operate here (Victoria, otherwise referred to in Australia as Police State). The damn things are everywhere. There's no responsibility to tell people where they are, so they're not used as a deterrent like other states, they're used to raise money and they're GREAT at that. More than a billion dollars in the last three years .For a place that has the population of Wisconsin.
There's a classic one in Chadstone, which is the champion for raising $$$, located just as 70kph turns into 40kph. They must be cackling with glee over that one.
Also, there's no leeway on these things. 77% of speeding fines are for exceeding a posted limit by less than 10kph (6mph). I've had one for being 3kph over, while being the only guy on a double lane straight highway for miles and miles... (cops hide in the vegetation in the median strip). Good one guys, beats catching rapists eh?
Fundamentally, other \.ers have called it right. The fundamental problem is that a commercial operator will basically install as many of them as you let them since they get nice revenue from it. The state government sees this as $$$, and can pull up all sorts of charts telling you that they are 'safety cameras'. All the while, this is a state where cops do nothing about rampant tailgating, driving around with fogs + high beams, hoons spinning wheels at every traffic light, failure to indicate and so on... because that would need police work rather than just ticking a box on a form and waiting for the money to roll in.
Occasionally, just occasionally, one sees a burnt out speed camera with still-smouldering tyres at the base of it. Digitally burn the things? Bring it oooon.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Speed limits are arbitrary and are in place to make money.
https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/sp...
"Despite the general acceptance and wide-spread use of speed limits throughout the world, there has been no consensus among practitioners concerning the methods and techniques that should be used to select the most appropriate speed limit for a particular facility. At the current time, it appears unlikely that any consensus will be achieved in the near future. This leaves practitioners without definitive guidance on this important issue, and in search of information to assist them. This report provides the information necessary for practitioners to make informed decisions in selecting a method for setting speed limits in their jurisdiction."