Protection for ATMs and cash-in solutions
The future of cash management has already begun
The time of cash distribution at the bank counter is over. More and more branches are being closed, while the volume of cash in circulation and the number of ATMs installed is rising, according to the Bundesbank. This radical change can be explained by cost-cutting measures taken by banks plagued by negative interest rates and changing consumer needs. While the BSI clearly defines cash supply as a critical supply service, there has been an increase in attacks on ATMs and thus on cash supply in recent years. The protection of ATMs is consequently coming into increased focus.
Intelligent cash management
In the future, cash management will need to become more customer-friendly, less expensive and therefore more intelligent in order to keep pace with digital payment alternatives. Approaches to this include automated ATM monitoring with the aid of artificial intelligence, as well as cooperations with retailers for cash payments to customers directly at the checkout (cashback).The increasing intelligence in cash management enables and demands completely new IT security solutions.
Consolidation of the market
At the same time, specialists are emerging who are placing the ATM business at the center of their business model. These specialists use gaps in the service provided by banks to set up their own ATMs or offer banks monitoring services for their machines. By focusing on the ATM business in this way, considerable potential savings can be achieved.
Previous protective measures
The BKA has observed a significant increase in the number of physical and logical attacks on ATMs in recent years. Increasing rollouts of effective prevention mechanisms such as gas protection units and ink protection technologies are making physical attacks on ATMs less lucrative for criminals by complicating the attack or leaving the cash unusable. Therefore, a decrease in physical attacks can be expected.
Logical attacks as a new challenge
Once a professional attacker gains access to the service area of an ATM, he is able to trigger payments. Criminals can trigger unauthorized payments by installing malware on the built-in PC (jackpotting) or by connecting their own control module to the payout unit (blackboxing). According to the BKA, there is also an increase in the production and distribution of tools that make such attacks possible for less technically skilled criminals.
The problem is that unlike the vault area, the service area is only weakly protected. In the near future, access to the service area by unauthorized persons will thus become the greatest vulnerability of ATMs, for which new protective measures will have to be taken.
PHYSEC SEAL offers effective protection
With the help of our automated 3D condition assessment, the entire interior of the ATM can be monitored. This enables us to secure ATMs not only against physical attacks on the vault, but also against logical attacks in the service area.
The benefits of PHYSEC SEAL
PHYSEC’s 3D sensor creates a physical representation of the ATM:
- Conditions can be detected in real time (door open, anomalies on the safe housing or within the service area)
- Condition changes in the switched-off system can also be detected, blurring of traces is impossible
- Existing security systems can easily be extended with our solution
- The PHYSEC solution can be used independently of the device manufacturer and installation can be carried out by trained SLM service personnel
Learn more about our solution
SEAL integrity monitoring
Our SEAL solution can be installed in ATMs or cash-in devices of any size and alerts in case of unauthorized intrusion or occurring damage to the device.
Personal consultation
Respond to the rising threat level and prevent tomorrow’s attacks. We at PHYSEC will be happy to answer your questions. Talk directly to our executives now.
Dr. Christian Zenger, CEO
email: christian.zenger@physec.de
Dr. Heiko Koepke, CFO
email: heiko.koepke@physec.de
