Europol warns of cash machine malware boom
THE WORLD is enduring an increase in ATM attacks, according to a report fromEuropol’s European Cybercrime Centre(EC3), which oughta know, and Trend Micro, which makes it its business to know.
The ATM Malware on the Rise report, presumably aimed at the tl;dr generation, shows an increase in malware that hits people right where it hurts and right on the high street.
Europol and Trend Micro said that there are more than three million cash machines worldwide, and that people withdraw billions of pounds through them every year. Some of it, as we have reported in the past, has been pinched through attacks like GreenDispenser.
The report said that this type of attack has replaced the traditional safe-breaking method of stealing money from a bank and its customers.
“Logical attacks on ATMs are now recognised as a developing threat by the industry and law enforcement, and EC3 has already assisted a number of national police forces in successful investigations of this emerging crime threat,” said Steven Wilson, head of EC3.
“This report lists a number of key recommendations to address this growing crime trend in preventive and investigative areas, and can serve as a valuable reference document to coordinate activities to tackle organised crime’s expansion into this area of criminality.”
Unfortunately for us, and maybe you, the report has been shared only with law enforcement authorities. Actually, this is probably a good thing as it should keep the information out of criminal hands. Maybe.
Trend Micro is just happy to be helping. “Trend Micro’s collaboration with EC3 reinforces our long-standing belief that technology, security and law enforcement organisations must continuously collaborate to stay ahead of sophisticated cyber criminals,” said CTO Raimund Genes.
“This report will not only help law enforcement agencies mitigate potential future threats, but be instrumental in the financial services industry to help protect individuals who trust these institutions with their assets and livelihoods.” µ
To hear more about security challenges, the threats they pose and how to combat them, sign up for The INQUIRER sister site Computing’s Enterprise Security and Risk Management conference, taking place on 24 November.
Source | TheInquirer
