And finally…FBI puts banks on worldwide alert over ATM attack fears

A confidential alert sent to banks stated that the scheme, known as an “ATM cashout”, could take place in the space of just a few hours, most likely on a weekend after banks have closed.

The scheme involves cloned cards, together with a hack on a bank or payment processor in order to facilitate the fraudulent withdrawal of funds by gangs of cyber criminals.

“The FBI has obtained unspecified reporting indicating cyber criminals are planning to conduct a global Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cash-out scheme in the coming days, likely associated with an unknown card issuer breach and commonly referred to as an ‘unlimited operation’,” states an FBI alert to banks that was obtained by cyber security expert Brian Krebs.

A similar attack reported last month resulted in losses of $2.4 million for the National Bank of Blacksburg.

That attack involved hundreds of ATMs across the United States over the course of several months.

Smaller banks with less sophisticated security systems are thought to be most vulnerable to an attack using the ‘jackpotting’ technique, so-called because of the way cash it paid out like a gambling machine.

Mr Kerbs’ website Krebs On Security reported that criminals could create ‘fraudulent copies’ of bank cards by installing their data on reusable magnetic strip cards.

The FBI warned that ‘at a pre-determined time, the co-conspirators withdraw account funds from ATMs using these cards.’

‘Historic compromises have included small-to-medium size financial institutions, likely due to less robust implementation of cyber security controls, budgets, or third-party vendor vulnerabilities,’ the alert said.