Jackpotting Attacks Hit U.S. ATMs

[O Donna]

Wonder if stories like this will be cited should a country push for cashless society. Probably not because the whole thing starts with a computer hack. What could be said that would make people think a cashless system would be any more secure then one with cash?

First ‘Jackpotting’ Attacks Hit U.S. ATMs



ATM “jackpotting” — a sophisticated crime in which thieves install malicious software and/or hardware at ATMs that forces the machines to spit out huge volumes of cash on demand — has long been a threat for banks in Europe and Asia, yet these attacks somehow have eluded U.S. ATM operators. But all that changed this week after the U.S. Secret Service quietly began warning financial institutions that jackpotting attacks have now been spotted targeting cash machines here in the United States.

To carry out a jackpotting attack, thieves first must gain physical access to the cash machine. From there they can use malware or specialized electronics — often a combination of both — to control the operations of the ATM.


A keyboard attached to the ATM port.

On Jan. 21, 2018, KrebsOnSecurity began hearing rumblings about jackpotting attacks, also known as “logical attacks,” hitting U.S. ATM operators. I quickly reached out to ATM giant NCR Corp. to see if they’d heard anything. NCR said at the time it had received unconfirmed reports, but nothing solid yet.

On Jan. 26, NCR sent an advisory to its customers saying it had received reports from the Secret Service and other sources about jackpotting attacks against ATMs in the United States.

Reference continues here

[ZoSo925]

I used to work for NCR and have endless stories about them. They are liars and completely rotten to the core up to the board of directors. Pure disingenuous evil in the rawest form and deepest links to the shadow government. I've got 10's of thousands of internal documents that show corruption but no government agency will touch it with a stick. I have not tried filing a complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission, but the are just a worthless and so much corruption going on regarding Mining Companies going bankrupt and endless Billions of Gold still in the ground while wiping out investors while the company operates under a new name.

A few years ago you heard just about every retail store in the country getting hacked. They were all NCR cash registers and many of them kept quiet. Walmart was the biggest but there is an even bigger Money Laudering Scam going on, and it even involves shifting money between Corporations while leaving their lower employees & management clueless and in circles chasing their tail and living paycheck to paycheck.

I have not been paying attention to all Walmarts in town but pretty sure they pulled out all the NCR ATM's - that was a multi-function kiosk. They still have the Self-Checkouts and that is a long term contract. Those Self-Checkouts were hacked big time and things were kept quiet about. The service technicians were kept out of the loop, our job was to report the issues but no one was ever on the same sheet of music with helpdesk or management. There was some major scam with Gift Cards and using Spilt Payments with debit cards ... up to, and even leading to causing the machines to completely drain out money.

Here is a photo I took of this one store. The manager was so fed up with issues with the ATM they left it un-plugged for months. This machine would completely empty out money.

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by ZoSo925 (here)

Priceless!! That had me actually laughing out loud.

[bluestflame]

rekon they'll use this to shut down ATMs ? seems they've had a few dry runs to assess the level of inconvenience beforehand for maximum effect

[petra]

Step 1. Gain physical access
Step 2. Do what you want

"Oh not this again"....

I can totally relate to ZoSo925's posting as well. That word "clueless" really sums it up. It's like, everywhere you look, there's another big stupid joke

[ZoSo925]

I used to support every major company from Home Depot, Victoria's Secret to Starbucks. Sometimes we would get little bits of news from each company on what is going on but we never physically worked for them.

Before all this hacking, 1 major thing did happen at Walmart that is a bit of a mystery. I'd have to dig up my email that I saved and have 8 years of off-line folders of everything archived, but some black guy was dressed up as a fake Cisco Network Technician and was visiting random Texas and Arizona Walmarts. The managers let the guy right into the Server rooms and a complete mystery what he was doing.

All I know is we get an email with security picture of the guy leaving the building with a briefcase/bag. - And warning to keep an eye out for this person or any fake technician trying to get access. I'm not sure if this issue was ever reported in the Media News, and nothing was ever discussed again. A few months later though is when all hell started breaking loose and stores stopped using Gift Cards and stuff on those Self-Checkouts.

[petra]

Wow. Yeah, that makes a good point how easy it is to get access...
Tools needed: Acting Skills

[O Donna]

My understanding is everyone is capable of being conned, some more then others. No one entity is an island, nothing is permanently foolproof. If something hasn't been cracked either the incident has been suppressed or just give it time...

[Valerie Villars]

Posted by petra (here)
Wow. Yeah, that makes a good point how easy it is to get access...
Tools needed: Acting Skills

Ha, ha, ha. We can act too! Take that you b*stards.

[petra]

Posted by Villival (here)

Posted by petra (here)
Wow. Yeah, that makes a good point how easy it is to get access...
Tools needed: Acting Skills

Ha, ha, ha. We can act too! Take that you b*stards.

Not me.... lol

First time I heard the words "social engineering" I went into some kind of laughing fit - really it's just a fancy way of saying scamming