Bizarre cyberattack blamed on Russia and China-linked hackers permanently breaks dozens of speed cameras in the Netherlands — authorities decline to reveal location of affected cameras, for obvious reasons

Europe is a small place and then I work in an international company with many of my colleagues being French, Belgian, Dutch, with one major location being in a corner where the Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands meet right across the street.

Most of the time, you hardly notice who's from where, everyone switches languages naturally and sometimes mid-sentence. But then suddenly a giant gap opens up in areas where you just don't expect that.

Speed limits and speed cam culture being one area where evidently value divides are giant, way greater than you'd ever expect.

I guess everyone knows about us Germans: we love to go fast, ideally as fast as the car manages, and speed cams are widely recognized enemies of the public. They may not be entirely hidden and must signal very noticably when you've violated the law. They must also painstakingly record your transgression, any tiny mistake or your face not recognizeable and rogue drivers will win in court. Fines are less than the value of your car, unlike in Switzerland, where speeding can cost you the Porsche you were driving.

The Belgians also like to go fast, but for the longest time their motorways were in such horrible conditions, that I for one never exceeded the Belgian 75 mph speed limit. Yes, the fines are much bigger than in Germany, cameras may be hidden and the owner has to pay the fine no matter what. But mostly the risk of having your car torn apart from a giant pothole was even bigger. Yes, I got a ticket, when I was so busy avoiding the potholes, that I missed the speed reduction from 35 to 25 mph in a construction site on the motorway... the €300 fine came out of the blue a few weeks later, but in a letter in four languages.

The Dutch motorways are meticulously maintained, some of the roads to Brussels meander between Belgium and the Netherlands and the difference is like night and day or like crossing the frontier between East and West-Germany in the old days before the reunification.

The French roads are almost as good as the Dutch, both far better than in Belgium and mostly better than in Germany, but where the French allow 80 mph, the Dutch reduced it to a mere 62 mph some years ago: perhaps the best road conditions in all of Europe, but evidently you're not supposed to use them. And it's not like they have dangerous mountain curves, anywhere: it's called "the low countries" for a reason!

French speed cams are relativley public and visible, regulating the traffic right where they are, but the French enjoy their liberté where they aren't.

The Dutch? Speedcams very much hidden away, no feedback until the letter arrives in the mail, extreme bills, from what I've heard, and enforced without mercy all across the EU: one of those things that works perfectly across all those former borders.

I've simply tried to stay away from that country, because my car (bought used) has every extra, except cruise control.

I guess it was originally ordered by a true German, who'd consider cruise control as unpatriotic, but it's sure helpful, when you leave the country.

Anyhow, with those fines exceeding the residual value of the car, the Netherlands was a no-go area, fortunately not that big, and unlike Germany, rarely a country you have to cross to go elsewhere. It just sort of fades into the sea (and beyond that people even drive on the wrong side of the road).

So if those cams will stay off for a few more weeks, I might actually use that opportunity to pay it a visit: it sure looks ok, and now without the harassment..

Apart from hackers just loving to hack, I can't see this as the work of state sponsored actors.

But there is a lot of organized crime operating from the Netherlands in its neighboring countries using high-powered muscle cars to outrun cops, who can't cross the borders on the job, and those guys might want to wipe the traces to their hide-outs in the beautiful and clean Dutch countryside: a bit of Wild West in the western parts of Europe.

abufrejoval said:

Apart from hackers just loving to hack, I can't see this as the work of state sponsored actors.

From the article:
"Apparently, the systems targeted in the hack (which reportedly stored "information about ongoing court cases, police investigations, and employees' personal details" in addition to managing these cameras)"
This is perhaps a very relevant detail. It reminds me of a hack of US Federal Court systems, believed to be linked to cases involving espionage (based on which court records the hackers appeared to have accessed):
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/12/federal-courts-hack-security-flaw-00506392
Sure, it's a reach to suggest they're related, but it could explain why foreign state-sponsored actors might want to hack these systems.

moparhippy420 said:

Local governments get very little of the revenue for speed and red light cameras. The company that operates them takes like an 80% cut of the fines. Thats from the people who actually pay them to begin with. In alot of states red light and speed cameras are not enforceable. If you dont pay your 50 or $100 ticket, then it dont matter. Theres no court date, no warrants, no points. It dont effect your license, insurance or credit. Theres literally no repercussions to not paying them.

I have gotten dozens of those tickets in the mail and just throw them away and forget about them. Its not even a matter of me constantly going out and "breaking laws". There are certain areas where i lived that had them in very predatory places, such as a road where the speed limit goes from 45 to 35, right when your going downhill, and the camera is literally on the 35mph sign. The amount of "tickets" ive gotten for doing 38 or 42 or whatever is just as absurd as the cameras themselves.

These cameras are nothing but a racket ran by 3rd party companies to make themselves easy money, not the state/county/city.

There is an incredible amount of diversity around the social code of countries and regions when it comes to driving and its enforcement, probably going right back to the donkey doing damage with the cart it suddenly chose to dislike.

If I were to go for a doctorate in anthropolgy after my retirement, perhaps that would be a field not yet completely leached dry of insights.

But trying to delete your traces is sure to become an ever bigger motive for violent action as we're all turned into cloud giant prey.

Let's say thanks to those hackers and keep up the good work.
All speed camera's should be disabled .

lemongrassgarlic said:

Let's say thanks to those hackers and keep up the good work.
All speed camera's should be disabled .

The right way to do that is through the legal and democratic process. Not vandalism or criminal acts.

I don't have a fundamental problem with speed cameras, only the limits they're enforcing, properly advertising enforcement, and the fee structure for violations. Extreme speeding and reckless driving are bad for society and things most people don't support.

So, then the question is how to use technology to counter one social problem without creating another. This challenge is not beyond the realm of sane and responsible government, particularly with a politically-engaged populace.

lemongrassgarlic said:

Let's say thanks to those hackers and keep up the good work.
All speed camera's should be disabled .

You think they will stop with the speed cameras?