News

The more they can do, the more to watch

July 5, 2005

The more stuff you've got, the more you've got to worry about. Apparently that axiom applies to ATMs, too.

While the shift to Windows has enabled ATM channel integration, greater network connectivity and more dynamic advertising campaigns, it also has increased concerns for security breaches.

"The Windows-based ATMs thing didn't start to hit the mainstream until the last year or so, even though Windows ATMs have been around for the last eight years," said Steve Risto, director of Dayton, Ohio-based NCR Corp.'s APTRA Software Center of Expertise.

Fears about Windows-based ATMs' vulnerability to viruses aren't new to the headlines. What is new, however, is a number of changes in the ATM space for a majority of financial institutions and ATM deployers, Risto said.

Keep up-to-date on the latest ATM news.

'Always on' risk?

With Windows has come the need to move from dial-up to TCP/IP, which allows ATM customers to be touched in real time by customer relationship management applications, for instance. But connections like TCP/IP open FIs and deployers to a world of hackers.

That forces security and information technology departments to be brought deeper into the ATM fold. It's also forcing deployers to reevaluate their ATM networks.

"You might have used file distribution in the past on dial-up on OS/2. Today you're using TCP/IP," which is a whole new ballgame, said Keith Lewis, director of marketing and solutions for global software and services at North Canton, Ohio-based Diebold Inc.

Scott Harroff, chief security architect of Diebold's global software and services organization, said the difference between file distribution on dial-up and TCP/IP connectivity, is that via TCP/IP the ATM is always on the network.

But that's not necessarily a bad thing, Harroff added. The 24/7 connectivity doesn't make ATMs more vulnerable.

According to Harroff, ATM manufacturers have worked through most of the security concerns that deployers face.

"There's an assumption that TCP/IP makes ATMs more vulnerable, but a Windows-based ATM can be just as secure as an OS/2 machine," he said. "Some say it's more secure."

Software distribution security

File distribution wasn't of much value on legacy platforms, but it has found new stature on Windows, said George Throckmorton, a senior marketing manager for ACI Worldwide Inc.

Because of the shift to Windows, ATM deployers also should use file distribution for software updates. But they shouldn't be concerned with file distribution and network security, Harroff said.

"It's like having a locked door. The ports are deliberately closed, so even if you deliberately put a virus on the ATM, it wouldn't go anywhere. That gives you more time to deploy the patch. It gives you control."