CAPE TOWN, South Africa - The Global ATM Security Alliance (GASA), formed by the ATM Industry Association in June 2003, has published a Best Practice Manual for Physical ATM Security, containing international minimum physical security requirements for both standalone and wall mounted ATMs.
According to a news release, it is the first time security guidelines for both types of ATMs -- through-the-wall ATMs commonly deployed at bank branches and the freestanding machines typically found in retail locations -- have been incorporated into a single document.
This milestone follows the publication of GASA's international cardholder security tips last year and its ATM Crime Talking Points document, both available from the GASA Web site.
All are part of a series that will cover the security of the entire ATM life cycle, from cardholder security through PIN and encryption security to ATM transaction and data security.
"We would like to encourage the ATM industry to use this new manual covering the physical security of ATMs as a reference guide for future ATM installations and for any strategic security reviews of existing installations," said Mike Lee, ATMIA's international director and founder of GASA.
In the foreword, Alan Townsend, crime coordinator of the Flying Squad, and Lachlan Gunn, director of ATM security consultancy Ben Alpin Ltd, write that it is the physical ATM that provides the interface between the self-service banking industry and millions of cardholders around the world.
"This manual is written to ensure that physical ATM security is the best it can be to protect not just the ATM and the cardholder as far as is humanly possible but also the three decades old reputation of the ATM for service excellence," they write.
Key contributors to the international best practice guidelines are the ATM Security Working Group in the United Kingdom, Banksys in Belgium, the UK's BenAlpin Ltd and Link Interchange Network, as well as ATMIA.
GASA includes representation from Visa and MasterCard, as well as from major ATM networks in several countries and law enforcement and fraud prevention agencies.
For more information, contact Mike Lee at mike@atmia.com.
