Quite recently, an unpleasant fact was announced – ATMs in Russia were attacked by a new virus. If a bank client inserted a card into a terminal infected with a virus, he could lose all the money in the account in a minute.
The new program is unique in its own way. With its help, cybercriminals have the opportunity to intercept data on the state of accounts of users who have ever used a particular ATM. Of course, viral attacks on ATMs and vending machines have been carried out before, but they did not bring any problems, except for a simple malfunction, either to the clients of credit institutions or to the banks themselves.
Alas, hackers improve their skills and knowledge, and sometimes it is difficult to keep up with their ideas. The new virus has become a real threat to people who often use ATMs. One well-known antivirus software company learned about the new attack through an existing scanner. All ATMs are constantly monitored, so the attack data was received on time.
The Trojan horse works quite simply, however, to the delight of the scammers, it is quite effective. Launched at an ATM, it allows attackers to receive printouts with all the data they are interested in regarding potential victims of deception.
The question of how a virus can get into an ATM is legitimate, because the terminals do not have a direct connection to the Internet, and no one can simply “infect” the machine. It seems quite real that people are to blame for the penetration of viruses into ATMs, perhaps employees of various banks, or those who maintain ATMs and install software on them. It is also possible that the ATM manufacturer is to blame for the problems, because not all terminals are subject to the attack, but only those issued by a certain company.