USB sticks used to steal cash from ATMs in Europe.

[Jazzy]

Researchers have revealed how cyber-thieves sliced into cash machines in order to infect them with malware earlier this year.

The criminals cut the holes in order to plug in USB drives that installed their code onto the ATMs.

Once the malware had been transferred they patched the holes up. This allowed the same machines to be targeted several times without the hack being discovered.

To activate the code at the time of their choosing the thieves typed in a 12-digit code that launched a special interface.

Analysis of software installed onto four of the affected machines demonstrated that it displayed the amount of money available in each denomination of note and presented a series of menu options on the ATM's screen to release each kind.

The researchers said this allowed the attackers to focus on the highest value banknotes in order to minimise the amount of time they were exposed.

Full article

Very clever thieves.

 

[Shadowfire]

Huh.

I never use my debit card at the ATM, mainly because PNC Bank doesn't really have any ATMs around here that aren't either at the bank or inside a CVS, plus I don't ever really need cold, hard cash, I just use the card.

 

[Nebulous]

Very clever indeed. So where they cut the holes, there are USB ports underneath?

 

[Evil Eye]

So where they cut the holes, there are USB ports underneath?

Apparently. I guess that was cheaper than finding half decent PCs without USB ports

 

[Nebulous]

So where they cut the holes, there are USB ports underneath?

Apparently. I guess that was cheaper than finding half decent PCs without USB ports

Seems like a security flaw they should have not allowed to be there in the first place. Maybe the people who cut the holes, knew they were there... Like they were bank employee's or something. Conspiracy!

 

[Shadowfire]

I've read some ATMs still use OS/2. I think it was Brazil that was in....

OS/2 was an OS created by Microsoft for IBM, which stopped development after Microsoft and IBM had a contract disagreement, Microsoft eventually creating the Windows NT base with the OS/2 code (which Windows NT powers every version of Windows since XP). OS/2 hasn't been updated by IBM since the mid 90's so yeah, insecure...