All ATM security, all the time

The International Suite at Old Trafford football ground – home to the legendary Manchester United – was the venue for the recent ATM Sec 2 conference. Organized by the ATM Industry Association, this event followed on from the success of last year's conference, but adopted a new format and included the first-ever presentation of the ATM Security Awards. (See related story ATMIA presents global ATM security awards)

 

Spread over two days, the conference offered a wealth of information across the entire security spectrum, and gave a clear view of where the ATM industry stands with regard to all security issues.

Mike Lee and Nick Kirby

But before we got down to the real work, the delegates were treated to a guided tour of the football ground. Not only did we see the stadium itself, but we were taken into the players' lounge and the dressing room, as well as walking down the tunnel from which the players emerge at the beginning of the match. It's a rather impressive place! Then it was onto the events of day one.

Proceedings began with a welcome from Mike Lee, executive director, International, ATMIA, who addressed the theme of the conference – Discover End-to-End ATM Security. He said: "We hope that when you leave this event, you'll have a good idea of the A to Z of security, and a clearer idea of how we can defeat the criminals who affect our industry."

The first day's keynote address was given by John Williams, crime prevention manager at HSBC. Looking at physical ATM security he addressed the importance of balancing competing needs – from business, police, and customer perspectives. And he opened with the admission that "I have not been able to find a 'one size fits all' solution for security and I don't think that such an animal exists."

Indeed, it seems that it is a difficult task to satisfy the diverse security needs of different sectors. Whilst the business has profitability considerations, and the ever-important requirement to build trust in the brand, the customer has to feel safe when transacting at an ATM. Not only are financial institutions at risk from physical attacks on ATMs, and the subsequent cost implications, their customers and service providers are also at risk of attack and that can impact on the brand.

Imagine, Williams suggested, a person of a certain age being attacked at an HSBC ATM – the story gets into the press and the fact that the attack took place can be overshadowed by the fact that it was HSBC. The way the company is perceived by the public could be damaged.

Williams then ran through the different types of attack – ATM facing, customer facing and service provider facing – before looking at available protection mechanisms. He then addressed the types of criminals who perpetrated the different types of crime. Some time was then spent on how to meet the variety of business and customer needs from an ATM and the question of finding the balance.

However, as we have seen with many business strategies – be it chip cards, mobile technology and the like – when it comes to security, the customer is key. Williams said: "The customer, of course, is the Holy Grail, and the brand's task is to attract as many as possible." And that means the customer has to feel safe.

This introduction to a wide range of security issues was a great start to the conference and was the perfect lead in to the second presentation.