Article

ATM Security, Part 1: Protecting against brute force theft

The deployment of smaller machines in less secure locales has resulted in a new smash-and-grab theft market. by Ryan DuBosar Contributing Editor

March 7, 2002

As ATMs continue to populate the retail landscape, thieves looking for quick cash don't have to look very far.

The increasing deployment of off-site ATMs in less secure locations has opened the door to smash-and-grab thefts and vandalism. Increased deployment of low-end cash dispensers with low-end construction has presented a growing number of easy targets.

Randy Nolte, president of Manhattan Financial Services in Davie, Florida, talked with ATMmagazine.com about two machines stolen from his company.

"The machines were in strip joints," he said. "The first one happened between 4 and 6 a.m. Two guys with masks caved in the side of the machine, which freed up the pins on the top and bottom right hand corner. They knocked open the cash dispenser and got the cash out of the machine. They pretty much destroyed the ATM."

A second machine at a flea market was taken by thieves who wrapped a chain around the dispenser and rocked it loose, Nolte said. Manhattan Financial Services has 48 machines placed, but a company with only two machines would have been put out of business, he added.

Brute Reinforcement

One way to ensure a company survives theft of machines is insurance. Joel Doving, a loss prevention specialist with Campbell Galt & Newlands insurance agency in Portland, Oregon, spoke about the risks and benefits of ATM security.

"There are many things to be concerned about," he said. "There is a lot of focus on electronic security right now, and deservedly so. But the physical security of the machine as they become more numerous is also an issue because more people are going to understand the way to make off with those machines."

Insurance has to be a last resort to protect the assets of an organization, Doving said. It's meant to be integrated with other security measures to reduce the monetary loss. The low-tech method to fight brute force is brute reinforcement, which has worked in some cases. Damage to the machine still occurs, but the cash box is safe.

Robert Povey, head technician for Manhattan Financial Services, said thieves will no longer pop the side off of the company's machines with a crowbar. "We've come up with a redesign on the cabinet which will allow us to stop them from doing that," he said. "We've also ensured they can't get enough pressure in the right place to begin with so that they can't actually pry the door."

Nolte added that they have also installed a reinforcing bracket through the wall from the outside wall to the inside one, as well as secured the unit to the floor to prevent the machine from being rocked from its mooring.

The machines were built with half-inch holes but had been installed with three eighths inch bolts. Povey has since increased the size of the bolt and placed it through a plate inside the machine, essentially trapping it to the concrete.

Unsatisfied with the security measures of his previous supplier, Nolte then switched to TBS out of Tampa, Fla., for his new machines. Because the company was a former end user of its own machines, it was easier to make the supplier understand and react to the thefts.

"I have six machines that are in strip joints," Nolte said. "If that one security strap works, we're going to do the rest of them. Manufacturers expect their units to be in the most perfect place, where it's treated with kid glove care. You start getting into nightclubs and it won't be treated like that."

The next step in securing the machines is to tie them into security systems, install locator devices, attach dye packets to cash boxes and then advertise those measures on exterior signage.

Povey said, "It is a bit daunting when the thieves have to face that the money has been dyed, the police have been called and a siren is going to go off. Advertising those steps deters the considerable damage to your machine in the two minutes that they've been there. If you can deter from even beginning that, then you're much better off."

Locating Lost Machines

Electronic security is equally important as physical security, and the market has responded with products designed to protect these vulnerable, valuable targets. Everything from simple preventive measures to high-end security applications are available for ATM owners.

Eric Sheppard, vice president of Security Corporation in Richmond, Virginia, added that the locator devices his company started marketing in January can react in seconds to give police the exact position of a machine that has been stolen.

He described the locator system, which applies the same global positioning system (GPS) technology used by outdoor sports aficionados and ships at sea. The U.S. government launched 24 satellites around the globe, with 12 stationed on any horizon. Each satellite sends a beacon from which the locator device can triangulate its position.

The ATM security unit is 5 inches by 6 inches by 1.25 inches and can fit inside the cash box. The twist that Security Corporation has applied is to link each locator from the cash machine to a central monitoring station via cellular communications. A mercury switch or a contact mounted to the floor detects that the machine has been lifted. The system initiates a phone call to the monitoring station, which relays the locator's position once a second.

At the monitoring station, a computer screen brings up the latitude, longitude, speed and direction where the stolen machine is heading. A database provides phone numbers for police and the after-hours contact personnel. A second monitor overlays the global positioning system's location over a street map.

"The mapping is amazingly accurate," Sheppard said. "I can tell the local police department to connect me with the closest police officer to the theft. The police can transfer my call to the officer, and I can say the machine is traveling 43 mph in the 3600 block of West Main Street, then it's at a stop light, and then making a left onto another street."

Security Corporation serves Maryland, Virginia and the Carolinas. Average installation price is about $1,200 and the monitoring cost averages near $30 per machine per month. The company distributes its products through resellers.

The system will be useful for the smaller stand-alone systems such as those placed in convenience stores, where the real problem is, Sheppard said.

"Convenience store clerks really don't care if the machine gets stolen or not," he said. "They're not going to call until the machine is out the door. By then it's generally too late to catch it, except to pick the pieces off the ground."

The locator device can prevent the damage by initiating its alarm call in seconds, before the thieves can get the unit outside and move it.

"Within a matter of six seconds after it's tripped, the ATM Locator is in the process of dialing us with its location," Sheppard said. "Not only do we catch the ATM before it gets far, we catch it before it gets damaged, which is half the battle."

"93% of the bank robbers get caught," Nolte said. "When they do get caught they have between $2,000 and $5,000 on them. Now instead of robbing banks they're starting to rob ATMs, which carry the same amount. They just change their odds a little bit by going after the less-secure ATMs."


>Randy Nolte is president of Manhattan Financial Services and Robert Povey is design engineer and head technician. They can be reached at (888) 499-2286, fax (503) 224-8319.

Eric Sheppard, vice president of Security Corporation, can be reached at (800) 444-4240, fax (804) 745-2362, e-mail security.sales@erols.com.

Joel Doving is a loss prevention specialist at Campbell, Galt and Newlands insurance agency, (800) 251-4246, fax (503) 224-8319.