News

Illegal ATM software to blame for most ATM hacks, solutions provider says

July 28, 2009

Lithuania-based BS/2, a Wincor Nixdorf business partner that provides business processes, support and maintenance solutions for financial institutions, is spearheading an awareness campaign about illegal ATM software.

In a news release issued by the company today, illegal ATM software is to blame for many recent ATM hacking attacks:

In spite of reports regarding more frequent hacking of ATM software, banks and financial institutions of some countries not only do not invest in ensuring safety, but tend to install illegal and non-secured software, which increases security risk even more. Such tendencies were noticed by the specialists of BS/2 Company, which develops software and provides outsourcing services.

Vladas Lapinskas, BS/2â€˜s executive director, says illegal software is most often found in Africa and Asia, and less often found in Central and Eastern Europe:

We constantly communicate with customers and partners from different countries. If a year ago we used to receive few reports of using illegal software, today we receive such information 10 times as often. ... Attempting to save on certified software meeting the strictest safety requirements, banks and financial institutions risk much bigger expenses, which would be necessary to restore the reputation if customers' data was stolen.

Lapinskas says BS/2 has confirmed cases of illegal usage of software developed by BS/2.

According to the European ATM Security Team, ATM robberies and ATM-related data thefts increased 149 percent in Europe from 2007 to 2008. The loss caused by such criminal activity amounted to EUR 485 million. The most widely publicized case hit ATMs in Russia and Ukraine, where hackers took advantage of gaps in the ATM operating system. A virus developed to steal card data was discovered on 20 machines.