An unknown hacker has broken into smart washing machines that accept digital payments, leaving over a thousand students without laundry service in Amsterdam. According to Dutch publication Folia, the hacker(s) disabled the payment system on the appliances, so students based in the Spinozacampus housing complex could get their clothes cleaned for free. However, this did not last long, as Duwo, the management company behind the service, didn’t want to get stuck sorting the stains of the unpaid laundry bills.
“Because we purchase the machines ourselves, we need the income to be able to continue offering laundry services to our residents at affordable prices,” its spokesperson told Folia. While it might seem like a small amount for a company to shoulder the cost of laundry, it could soon add up if it’s going to shoulder the cost of providing clean clothes to Spinozacampus’ 1,250 residents.
The hack was first discovered in mid-July, but it wasn’t until recently that the company disabled the machines. Although there are still 10 other analog washing machines students can use, Folia reports that these are almost always out of order, with one student claiming that only one machine works for all the students. This has even got them worried about the risk of a lice outbreak because of the limited availability of laundry machines, digital or otherwise. Thankfully, there’s another residence building a little over 200 meters or 650 feet away that has more washing machines, allowing for shorter queues.
Dumb washers to the rescue
In the meantime, Duwo is slowly switching back to non-digital appliances, with the company expecting to receive five analog washing machines in a few days. It’s also reported that other buildings and housing associations are moving away from IoT washing machines.
As for the hacker, they could face up to a year in prison if they are caught, with the sentence going up to six years if it is proven that they did it for monetary gain. Nevertheless, ethical hacker Sijmen Ruwhof told Folia that finding the culprit is costly and time-consuming, so it might not be worth it for Duwo to follow up on the case. And although Ruwhof suspects a professional hacker is behind the washing machine attack, he also conceded that there are a lot of bright students on campus who would be capable of executing the breach.
“There are lots of bright minds on that campus who also know how to program. It gives you a huge kick when you hack into a washing machine like that,” Sijmen said. He also added, “If I were a student and saw those digital washing machines, as a hacker, I would be getting the itch, too.”
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