The Anti-virus Times

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

ATM Trojans are special malicious programs designed to infect embedded devices (ATMs, payment terminals, etc.) in order to steal money from cardholders.

Using this malware, cybercriminals ascertain the bank card information and PIN codes of their victims. Once they have acquired the necessary data, they can completely deplete compromised card accounts.

To steal money using ATM Trojans, cybercriminals exploit:

• vulnerabilities in specially designed operating systems for embedded systems;
• well-known ATM security loopholes;
• the absence of anti-virus protection on most devices or the fact that an anti-virus in use is insufficiently updated.

With few exceptions, ATM users are unaware that special malware can invade ATM software. In upcoming issues, we will describe how cybercriminals pull this off.

It's hard to believe, but even some bank IT professionals with whom Doctor Web’s employees have had conversations about ATM Trojans think that ATM Trojans are extremely rare, if they exist at all—and to them, the risk involved is minor and can be ignored!