Following an investigation into the robbery of 51 ATMs last May, UK officers have arrested a man believed to be responsible for the thefts. The man appears to be part of a criminal organization that has previously been of concern to authorities with illegal activities.
According to police, the perpetrators withdrew a total of €2 million from ATMs located in public areas
in Blackpool, Brighton, Doncaster, Liverpool, London and Portsmouth over the weekend.
The perpetrators breached the ATM security systems
The method used by the perpetrators is similar to the one discovered by Kaspersky security researchers during their analysis of the Tyupkin/PadPin malware for ATMs. By exploiting the low level of security of the machine, the attackers were able to gain physical access to the CD-ROM drive and install malware.
By activating this software, they were then able to extract money from the ATM. “Each machine was physically hacked and electronically infected with malware. The software allowed the criminals to extract large sums of money,” the police said in a statement.
[alert variation=”alert-info”]In addition, no trace of the malware was found in the ATM system, which officers attribute to the fact that the malware itself probably self-deletes after the robbery is over. This is also a feature that Kaspersky discovered during its analysis of Tyupkin / PadPin. The malware is able to self-delete so that it leaves no traces.[/alert]
The robbery was investigated by the London Regional Fraud Team (LRFT), a unit made up of detectives from the British Police, the Metropolitan Police and the Metropolitan Police. The National Crime Agency's Financial Crimes Unit also joined the investigation, gathering intelligence that led to the arrest of several suspects, including a 37-year-old man from Portsmouth.
[blockquote]"This operation represents a significant success against technologically advanced criminal organisations using malware to steal large amounts of cash
," said Nigel Kirby, deputy director of the NCA.
Similar robberies occurred in Russia and Malaysia
Similar incidents have occurred in Russia, the US, India, China, Israel, France and Malaysia. In Malaysia, robbers managed to steal about $1 million (€790.00). Police in the UK searched at least one address in Edmonton as part of the operation.
