How many times have you received a fine for speeding or running a red light when you could swear that you weren’t breaking the law? If you’d been flashed by a camera between June 6 and June 22, then you might have just been right.
In a press conference last Friday, Victoria Police’s acting deputy commissioner Ross Guenther confirmed that almost 100 speed cameras around the state had been infected by the WannaCry ransomware virus, which issued 590 fines to drivers that may not have broken the road rules.
Victoria Police made the decision to cancel all fines issued between June 6 and June 22, because, as Guenther explained, “I think it’s important the public has 100 per cent confidence in the system.”
On Saturday, Victoria Police announced that they will suspend thousands of fines while they are investigating the virus with private camera operator RedFlex (who Victoria Police suspects knew about the virus for days, yet didn’t inform the Department of Justice and Regulation). But if you’re thinking that this gives you carte blanche to get your Fast and the Furious on, then think again: fines will be suspended, but not waived if they are found to be legit. And as always, safety first, drivers.
According to traffic law expert and criminal lawyer Michael Kuzilny, this virus has infected more than 100,000 organisations in over 150 countries, and most likely entered Victoria’s cameras when RedFlex was performing routine maintenance on them.