Fines for running red-light and speed cameras across Victoria will be suspended – but not waived – while the system is investigated for signs of the WannaCry ransomware virus.
Up to 8000 fines are estimated to have been suspended – or "embargoed" – and 1643 fines have been withdrawn.
![A fixed speed camera at the Kings Way-Park St intersection in South Melbourne.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170625101528im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/w/a/i/u/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gwxs0x.png/1498317371995.jpg)
Victorian Police Minister Lisa Neville was openly furious with private camera operator RedFlex at a press conference on Saturday afternoon and said the organisation's contract would be scrutinised in an investigation into the camera crisis.
Ms Neville said it was her understanding RedFlex became aware of the virus on June 15, but rather than notifying the relevant authorities, contractors rebooted and repaired 42 of the cameras and concealed it from the Department of Justice and Regulation.
![Almost 100 speed and red-light cameras have been infected by the WannaCry ransomware.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170625101528im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/r/n/x/4/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gwxs0x.png/1498317371995.jpg)
"I realised at no point could I be confident that this virus had not gone into any of the other 280 cameras," Ms Neville told reporters.
Almost 100 speed and red-light cameras across Victoria have been infected by the WannaCry ransomware computer virus, Ms Neville confirmed.
While 97 cameras have definitely been infected, the full extent of the damage remains unknown.
All infringements recorded by all 280 cameras across Victoria will be withdrawn, but they may be reinstated, the police minister warned.
![Police Minister Lisa Neville.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170625101528im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/o/k/s/5/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gwxs0x.png/1498317371995.jpg)
The cameras will remain operational and if not infected with the virus, fines will still be issued.
The source of the infection was a single USB stick used by an outside contractor hired to perform maintenance on all the state's cameras, Ms Neville said.
![<p>](http://web.archive.org./web/20170625101528im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/x/u/o/i/image.related.articleLeadNarrow.300x0.gwxs0x.png/1498378370751.jpg)
"None of our cameras are part of an internet system so there is no chance the virus has spread into other networks," she said.
A system patch has since been applied to the camera network.
The cameras continued to work because the system was able to reboot itself after detecting the malware.
However, RedFlex did not report the issue to the police until Thursday, June 22, Assistant Commissioner Doug Fryer said.
Ms Neville said the future of RedFlex's contract would be examined as part of the investigation with the possibility the government may seek compensation for the blunder.
Ms Neville said the Department of Justice and Regulation were aware the virus had infected 55 cameras between the June 16 and 19 but also failed to report it to her until June 22.
She said RedFlex did not notify her about the additional 42 cameras until late Friday night: "The department did not tell me about the 55 (cameras) so they are the ones who identified the 55 between the 16th and 19th of June," Ms Neville said. "And RedFlex did not tell me about the other 42 cameras until last [Friday] night."
Shadow Minister for police Edward O'Donohue slammed the camera fine infection as a failure of the Andrews government.
"For road safety, it's critical that the community has confidence in the operation and accuracy of the road camera network, a confidence now undermined because of these mistakes."
In February this year, Redflex Holdings and its US-based subsidiary Redflex Traffic Systems agreed to pay the city of Chicago $20 million to settle a lawsuit over the company's admitted fraud.
An investigation by the Chicago Tribune in 2012 revealed that the Australian company's contact with the city was tied to a bribery scheme at City Hall.
The City Hall manager, John Bills, who oversaw the contract, was last year sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for taking up to $2000 in bribes for every camera installed, as well as lavish holidays and other gifts.
Former Redflex North American chief executive Karen Finley was jailed for 30 months, and other cities across the United States started investigations of their own contracts with RedFlex.
In 2016, the Australian Federal Police opened its own investigation into the company. The status of this investigation is not known.
The Chicago Tribune also exposed widespread problems with the company's red-light camera program, which photographed thousands of drivers during unexplained spikes of infringements at faulty cameras.
The road camera virus was first reported on 3AW on Thursday, before the minister was informed.
On Friday, Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Ross Guenther confirm 55 cameras were affected by the the WannaCry ransomware virus between June 6 and June 22.
Despite the cancellation, Deputy Commissioner Guenther said he had confidence the cameras had been correctly issuing fines, and that no ransom had been paid.
"I cancelled the fines because I think it's important the pubic has 100 per cent confidence in the system," he said."My advice is during the period the cameras were operating correctly and were not impacted by the virus."
Dr Vanessa Teague, a cyber security expert from the University of Melbourne, said given the ransomware had only just been detected, it was almost impossible for camera-system operator RedFlex to be fully confident in their technology.
Victoria's camera crisis follows a global WannaCry ransomware attack in May – believed to be the world's biggest online extortion attempt – which struck more than 100,000 organisations in 150 countries, including British hospitals, German rail operators and Chinese universities.
The virus typically locks up infected computers and demands a ransom – payable in Bitcoin – to unlock them.