In February Las Vegas in the USA hosted a meeting of the world’s main ATM (Automated Teller Machine) stakeholders, displaying the latest technology trends and security breakthroughs. For yet another year ATMIA (ATM Industry Association) put on one the sector’s most eagerly awaited events “US Conference”, under the banner headline this year of "Innovate and Succeed: the Next Decade for ATMs".

GMV cannot afford to miss this date; together with SPL Group, its US partner, it showcased checker ATM Security as the world’s most advanced solution to head off ATM cyberattacks. This inhouse GMV product has been protecting ATMs from cyberattacks for over 10 years; it is now safeguarding over 130,000 ATMs in more than 30 countries, cementing its market leadership. "Attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated and the banking industry’s security methods are often coming up short. We therefore stand in need of solutions specifically designed for ATMs, such as checker ATM Security, with which banks can protect themselves from cyberattacks”, in the words of Javier Fernández, presales engineer of checker ATM Security in the USA.

During the event experts warned that physical and logical ATM attacks are on the rise, and that financial service providers in the US need to pay heed to what is happening in Europe as a sign of what is waiting for them. For this very reason US providers need to place more stress on safety and give it top priority, even overriding client service and convenience.

A clear indication of this situation is the U.S. Secret Service alert about the jackpotting attacks now hitting cash machines in the states.

Jackpotting is not easy to pull off but the rewards can be huge. Hackers are capable of infecting the ATM with malware that gives them total control of the machine and its contents. This wave of attacks represents the first widespread jackpotting episode in the States, after previous outbreaks in Europe and Latin America.

Jackpotting: This sort of attack enables malware to take over control of the PC and the cash-dispensing function, tricking the machine into coughing up cash for the hacker. In most cases the malware is case-specific but the underlying concepts can easily be migrated to different systems. In sum, this form of attack is based on physical access to the cash machine and then tapping into the vulnerabilities of out-of-date systems of the main vendors.