Openbaar Ministerie (Dutch Prosecutor's Office)

History

2025: Video cameras shut down due to cyber attack

Road cameras of automatic recording of violations in the Netherlands remain turned off for a month after a large-scale cyber attack on the Openbaar Ministerie state prosecutor's office in July 2025, which effectively paralyzed the country's road control system. The shutdown affected stationary devices for fixing violations, areas with an average speed control system and portable complexes on highways, while the cameras themselves continue to function autonomously, but data processing servers remain inaccessible. This was announced on August 15, 2025 by representatives of the Dutch prosecutor's office.

According to The Register, the reason for the long-term downtime of the system for fixing violations was a large-scale cyber incident, as a result of which the prosecutor's office was forced to immediately disconnect all information systems from the Internet to prevent the further spread of the attack. The isolation of the prosecutor's IT infrastructure made key servers inaccessible, to which cameras transmit data for subsequent processing and the formation of fines for violations.

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Фото: Freepik

The hack did not directly affect photo and video recorders, which continue to work in autonomous mode and record violations of traffic rules. However, the lack of communication with central processing servers makes it impossible to form and send fines to violators, effectively creating an "unpunished zone" on the country's roads.

The situation is complicated by the impossibility of activating previously disconnected cameras, even if the reasons for their disconnection were planned - maintenance, calibration or movement of equipment. The representative of the Central Bureau for the Processing of Violations noted that temporary disconnection of individual cameras is a common practice and occurs regularly when the location of equipment changes.^[1]

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