Redazione RHC : 12 September 2025 11:39
An unusual incident occurred at the Spinoza Campus in Amsterdam: an unknown attacker hacked the digital payment system of five washing machines. For several weeks, students were able to use the washing machines free of charge, until Duwo, the company responsible for student housing, closed access to the laundry facility during the summer. Since then, over 1,200 residents have been unable to wash their clothes on campus.
Duwo explained that it was unable to cover the students’ expenses: the funds raised from the paid laundry service were used to maintain the equipment and keep the rates affordable. After the breach was discovered, access to the machines was completely blocked. The attacker has not been found. This was the first time this has happened in Dutch companies.
Students were forced to use ten old manual washing machines in a nearby building. However, they often break down due to overload, and often only one machine works for the entire community. Residents say that queues are becoming enormous, and some are concerned about the unsanitary conditions. Many note that the heat in the buildings is much more bothersome than the so-called “was-gate.” Others admit they’ve always preferred to wash their clothes at this laundromat, where there are more machines and shorter lines.
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Cybersecurity expert Simen Rouwhof explained that hacking smart home devices is a growing trend. Internet-connected washing machines or TVs can be intercepted using programs on a laptop. The captured devices are not only capable of washing for free, but can also be used for cyber attacks: if connected to a network, they can block important websites with bulk requests (DDoS). According to Rouwhof, in the case of the campus, the culprits were most likely the students themselves, who have programming skills. For them, such an experiment could have represented a challenge and a way to assert themselves.
From a legal perspective, the consequences are serious: unauthorized access to devices can result in up to a year in prison, and if it involves the theft of funds, the sentence can be up to 6 years. Ruwhof advises students to report any vulnerabilities they find and not use them for personal purposes, otherwise the court will consider such actions as crimes.
Duwo stated that it will soon switch to using traditional devices without digital modules to prevent such incidents. According to Ruwhof, the rejection of “smart” equipment in common areas is justified: it reduces the risk of data leaks and prevents the possibility of attacks. He noted that even specialists are tempted to examine such devices for vulnerabilities.
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