Skimming: New Targets for Fraudsters

• ATM protection has been improving and fraudsters have had to think their targets over again. According to the BKA (Bundeskriminalamt), they now tamper with train ticket machines in railway stations

• For the first time ever, skimming devices have been spotted on 25 ticket machines.

• Germany has otherwise witnessed a decrease in ATM skimming attacks: -50% between 2010 and 2011, and “only” 400 compromised machines identified between January and July this year.

Source: The Local

• This situation occurs as the ATM Industry Association is working on a full range of guidelines focusing precisely on ATM security.

• Its Best Practices for Managing Anti Money-Laundering at ATMs (detection, prevention and tracking of all suspicious ATM activities), and contactless dedicated recommendations (threats and associated scenario –including remote attacks) have just been released. Finally, a third guide dealing with the encryption of ATM operations has also been published.

• These cases highlight the interest of such documents: the ATMIA also reminds that EMV compliance efforts are not the only required ones. In addition to ATM transactions, all self-service industry players have to pay attention to these security issues.