Citibank ATM breach reveals vulnerability of PIN-based transactions

Citibank ATM breach reveals vulnerability of PIN-based transactions
Tags: Bank / Credit Union, Bank Automation, Bank Security, Central and Eastern Europe, Debit / Credit, Encrypting Pin Pads (EPP), North America, Regulatory Issues, Transaction Processing, Trends / Statistics
July 1, 2008

The Associated Press: Hackers broke into Citibank's network of ATMs inside 7-Eleven stores and stole customers' PIN codes, according to recent court filings that revealed a disturbing security hole in the most sensitive part of a banking record. The scam netted the alleged thieves millions of dollars. But more importantly for consumers, the scam indicates criminals were able to access PINs — theoretically the most closely-guarded elements of banking transactions — by attacking Citibank's back-end computers.