Proving that there may be such a thing as divine intervention, speeding and red light cameras in the Australian state of Victoria have been infected in a ransomware attack.

Some 55 government revenue-raising devices were infected across metro-Melbourne and the state, but unfortunately, according to Victoria police, “our advice at this stage is that a software virus has been detected, however the camera system has not been compromised.” Despite claiming that the cameras were not compromised, they added that “we will look into all incidents detected by the speed and red light cameras during the time in question as a matter of course,” implying that the ransomware attack may have indeed compromised the hated devices.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the attack is being attributed to WannaCry, the malware that gained worldwide headlines in the middle of May. On Monday, it attacked car maker Honda Motor Co. Ltd., which was forced to stop manufacturing at a plant outside of Tokyo because of the ransomware.

According to The Guardian, the attack vector for the infection was caused by a contractor “mistakenly” connecting infected hardware to cameras. Speeding and red light cameras in Victoria are operated under contract by RedFlex Holdings. The Australian company specializes in providing “vehicle monitoring and enforcement services” for government, police and traffic departments in Australia and the United States, including multiple cities in Texas and California, the latter in particular San Jose and Redwood City.

Some were more positive about the infection. Symantec Corp. Chief Executive Officer Greg Clark told The Australian that “the good news out of this is people are becoming way more aware of patching now and why you have to do it.” He added: “You’re going to get affected [by a cyberattack] — it’s what you do about it that’s important.”

Photo: davepaku/Wikimedia Commons