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Victorian road safety camera not compromised by WannaCry virus; fines to be issued

Anyone in Victoria hoping that an impending red light or speeding infringement notice would be declared null and void, courtesy of the state’s network of road safety cameras being infected with the ‘WannaCry’ ransomware virus, is in for bad news.

Rob Margeit

12:4810 July 2017

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The Road Safety Camera Commissioner John Voyage has completed an interim investigation, at the request of Victoria’s Police Minister, Lisa Neville, and has concluded there is no evidence the network's integrity and effectiveness had been compromised when infected.

A list of the commissioner's conclusions is below:

There is no evidence that the WannaCry infection has affected the integrity of Speed and Red-Light camera infringements.

I am satisfied that the mechanisms that construct and communicate the infringement data are unaffected by the virus.

I am satisfied that there is no evidence of any infringement data being in any way compromised.

I am satisfied that devices which measure and record speed are external to the infected computers and are unaffected by the virus.

I am satisfied with the accuracy and integrity of the infringements dated 6 June 2017 to 22 June 2017 (and thereafter).

I am satisfied that there is no evidence of any ongoing impact to the systems.

This means any infringements captured by the system’s cameras between June 6 and June 22 will be now issued according to Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Doug Fryer who declared last week:

"The integrity of all those tickets are sound and the virus had no impact on the detected speed," he said. "Those tickets will be reissued. That will start today."

This follows from an earlier declaration by Assistant Commissioner Fryer.

“I’ve decided to withdraw all infringements, statewide, since the sixth of June in fairness to the Victorian community.

“That does not mean they won’t be reissued; what it means is, of the 280 cameras that we have operating across Victoria, I need – as the responsible enforcement officer – to be absolutely sure that the 280 cameras were working correctly, with integrity, without any corruption.”

Commissioner Voyage’s eight-page report concluded that while 110 of the state’s 280 speed and red light cameras were infected with the ransomware virus, there was “no damage” to the system.

"The virus has spread in the system... but it did not actually take the second step of encrypting."

The full fallout of the infection is still to be felt, with Commissioner Voyage now conducting a full investigation into the governance of management of Victoria’s road safety cameras.

The report is expected to cover off the roles and responsibilities of the Department of Justice and the private companies contracted to run and maintain the network of cameras.

Police Minister, Ms Neville, who commissioned the investigation and report added, "I just want to make sure we get the facts. I want to make sure we're very clear about whose role was what and who did what.

"The contracts and the tender process will commence soon. I want to make sure that anything that comes out of this informs that process. This is going to be really critical in informing where we go from here."

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Rob Margeit

Features Editor

Rob Margeit is an award-winning Australian motoring journalist and editor who has been writing about cars and motorsport for over 25 years. A former editor of Australian Auto Action, Rob’s work has also appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Wheels, Motor Magazine, Street Machine and Top Gear Australia. Rob’s current rides include a 1996 Mercedes-Benz E-Class and a 2000 Honda HR-V Sport.