Cypriot firm accused of offering Slovak speed cameras with hidden Russian SIM cards
Reports said Sodasus Ltd offered Slovakia 279 cameras made by a Russian company and falsely presented them as Cypriot-made devices.
Nicosia, Cyprus. A Cypriot company allegedly attempted to sell 279 speed cameras containing hidden Russian SIM card slots to the Slovak government while claiming the devices had been manufactured in Cyprus, according to reports published on Tuesday. Slovak security officials reportedly found that the cameras were made by a technology company based in St Petersburg.
Security findings
Swiss newspaper Neue Zurcher Zeitung reported that Sodasus Ltd offered the cameras to Slovakia and said it had manufactured them.
An investigation by Slovakia’s national security bureau later found that the devices had been manufactured by St Petersburg-based technology company Simicon and contained “numerous vulnerabilities”.
Among the issues identified was a hidden slot for a second SIM card. The cameras could also “receive commands via SMS from 12 telephone numbers registered in St Petersburg and Russia’s Kemerovo oblast”, in Siberia.
Testing of the cameras was immediately halted after the findings emerged.
Company details
Sodasus Ltd states that it is based on Strovolos Avenue in Nicosia, near the presidential palace. The company has been registered since 2021, although little evidence of previous business activity in Cyprus was found.
It remains unclear whether the cameras were imported into Cyprus before being presented as Cypriot goods for export to Slovakia.
Wider concerns
The reports follow claims of a “large-scale Russian operation” aimed at accessing traffic cameras on military logistics routes in Europe to identify weapons and other equipment being sent to Ukraine.
Ukrainian newspaper Pravda reported that Dutch authorities found last month that a small number of cameras on military logistics routes in the Netherlands had been compromised.
Last year, British newspaper the Guardian reported that United Kingdom intelligence services had found that Russia attempted to hack border security cameras to monitor and disrupt the flow of western aid entering Ukraine.
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