Slovakia’s Interior Ministry, which is looking to modernize its road traffic monitoring system, had planned to procure 279 speed cameras from a Cyprus-based company. However, as Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung reports, the cameras were manufactured in Russia, and the devices’ branding was reportedly changed for delivery to Slovakia.
In early August, the opposition party Progressive Slovakia was the first to raise suspicions about the cameras’ Russian origin. The Interior Ministry initially dismissed the claims, but Slovakia’s National Security Bureau later confirmed that the devices had been manufactured by St. Petersburg-based LLC Simicon.
An analysis conducted by the Bureau uncovered numerous vulnerabilities. In particular, one of the camera models was found to feature a hidden slot for a second SIM card, unaccounted for in the technical documentation. It also emerged that the devices can receive commands via SMS from 12 phone numbers registered in St. Petersburg and Russia’s Kemerovo Region. In light of the findings, the Interior Ministry halted the testing of the new cameras.
The supplier, Cypriot company Sodasus Ltd, presented itself as the manufacturer during negotiations with Slovak authorities. However, as Neue Zürcher Zeitung reports, the entity appears to be a shell company — although it was registered in 2021, no evidence of any commercial activity could be found.
