According to a new report, attacks on ATMs in European countries using malware or jackpotting techniques were unsuccessful in the first half of 2019. The attacks did not generate any profits for the criminals. Only one successful attack was recorded and the profits were less than €1,000.
The non-governmental organization European Association for Secure Transactions (EAST), which examines fraud in the financial sector, found that 35 such attacks on banks took place in the first half of 2019. Hackers used ATM malware and ATM jackpotting techniques .
“Malware was used in 3 attempts and the rest were jackpotting (or black box) attacks,” according to the EAST report
The only loss incurred was less than 1,000 euros.
This shows that hackers have not been able to steal money with malware for about 2 years.
ATM malware never brought results in Europe
One such attack appeared in Europe in 2017. However, overall attacks are few and far between.
Installing malware on an ATM requires access to an open USB port or CD/DVD slot. However, European banks have taken various protective measures to counter such attacks (malware detection software, physical ATM security )
For this reason, attacks in Europe are not as successful as they are in other regions.
On the other hand, in jackpotting attacks, which are an evolution of ATM malware, hackers try to connect a laptop to the ATM, making a hole in the ATM. Through the laptop, they install malware on the ATM's internal computer. They are then able to manipulate the bank's customer accounts
However, these attacks are also not effective because they destroy ATMs and require expensive tools and a lot of time to execute.
“This reduction in attacks is very good news and reflects the work that has been done to prevent such attacks by the financial sector and law enforcement,” EAST said.
This caused hackers to turn to other forms of attack.
One of these forms is “physical attacks.” Criminals destroy ATMs physically (usually with explosives) and steal the money inside.
However, this attack causes permanent damage to ATMs.
For this reason, criminals look for techniques that can be used countless times and bring them large profits.
TRF: The new favorite technique of criminals
TRF (transaction reversal fraud) and skimming techniques can be used multiple times at the same ATM .
These techniques are very successful and have caused losses of 250 to 350 million euros in Europe.
In a TRF attack, criminals insert a valid card into the ATM, enter the correct PIN, and request a cash withdrawal. When the ATM removes the card, the fraudster leaves the card in the slot.
The hackers' goal is to confuse the machine into thinking that the card has been blocked. In this case, the transaction that was requested is canceled and the machine does not give the money. The hackers then break into the ATM and steal the amount that was requested in the canceled transaction.
According to EAST, TRF attacks are the most popular in the first half of 2019.In Europe, there were 5,649 attacks, while last year there were only 2,292.
EAST believes that the increase in TRF attacks will continue, while other attack types will decrease, as was the case in the first half of 2019.
Banks will need to find ways to deal with this threat, just as they have done with malware and skimming techniques.
