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Slovakia·Russia·Cyprus·European Union·NATO·Technology·Disinformation

Slovakia buys Russian-made surveillance cameras disguised as Cypriot products for road monitoring

Sunday, 23 August 2026, 06:22 · 1 min read

Slovakia's Interior Ministry planned to purchase 279 speed-monitoring cameras from a Cypriot supplier, but the country's National Security Authority (NBU) has confirmed the devices actually originate from Simicon, a manufacturer based in St. Petersburg, Russia, with their branding apparently altered to conceal their origin. Technical analysis revealed serious security flaws, including an undocumented slot for a second SIM card and the ability to receive remote commands via SMS from twelve phone numbers registered in the St. Petersburg region and Siberia — none of which were disclosed in product documentation. The case is particularly alarming because Russia's military intelligence agency, the GRU, is known to systematically exploit internet-connected surveillance cameras across Europe to track Western weapons shipments to Ukraine, making the covert placement of remotely controllable Russian cameras in an EU and NATO member state a significant security concern; Slovak prosecutors have launched an investigation, and the Interior Ministry has suspended the cameras' trial operation.

Sources
NZZDie Slowakei kauft bei einer Firma aus Zypern neue Verkehrskameras. Doch diese stammen aus Russland und nehmen per SMS Befehle entgegen ↗︎
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