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Crooks Nab Citibank ATM Codes, Steal Millions

An anonymous reader writes "Citibank is reissuing ATM cards following a December server breach in which hackers stole customer PIN codes, Wired reports. In recent months the FBI has arrested 10 people in the New York area who were allegedly involved in using the codes to steal over $2 million from Citibank checking and savings accounts, including two Ukrainian immigrants who were each caught with $800,000 in cash stashed in boxes and shopping bags in their homes. Some of the suspects are cooperating, telling the feds that they've been working for a Russian hacker. They use magstripe writers to encode the stolen account numbers onto blank cards, then hit ATMs in New York, and transfer 70% of the loot back to Russia."

282 comments

  1. Further development on the case by elrous0 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Authorities report that the two Ukrainians, identified as cousins Niko and Roman Bellic, were released from police custody after police confiscated their guns and took 10% of their money. The pair subsequently stole several cars and went on a killing spree with an RPG they found on a nearby rooftop.

    --
    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    1. Re:Further development on the case by cryptodan · · Score: 1

      Authorities report that the two Ukrainians, identified as cousins Niko and Roman Bellic, were released from police custody after police confiscated their guns and took 10% of their money. The pair subsequently stole several cars and went on a killing spree with an RPG they found on a nearby rooftop. The Media blames Grand Theft Auto and other Violent video games on their actions. Jack Thompson represents them in a court of LAW.
    2. Re:Further development on the case by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Inside news revealed that their release could be related to local Deputy Commissioner Francis McReary.

    3. Re:Further development on the case by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      if you think that's funny then you're an idiot. i hope they rot in hell. my prayers for the families involved

    4. Re:Further development on the case by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Authorities report that the two Ukrainians, identified as cousins Niko and Roman Bellic, were released from police custody after police confiscated their guns and took 10% of their money. The pair subsequently stole several cars and went on a killing spree with an RPG they found on a nearby rooftop.

      Authorities report that the two Ukrainians, identified as cousins Niko and Roman Bellic, were released from police custody after police confiscated their guns and took 10% of their money. The pair subsequently stole several cars and went on a killing spree with an RPG they found on a nearby rooftop. BALLSACK WARS
    5. Re:Further development on the case by fuzzix · · Score: 1

      Authorities report that the two Ukrainians, identified as cousins Niko and Roman Bellic, were released from police custody after police confiscated their guns and took 10% of their money. The pair subsequently stole several cars and went on a killing spree with an RPG they found on a nearby rooftop. Ha ha, the only worthy "first post" I've ever seen.
    6. Re:Further development on the case by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You keep praying. I'll keep laughing. Oh, and now I can laugh at you, too!

    7. Re:Further development on the case by FJR1300+Rider · · Score: 1

      With the help of Kiki Jenkins, of course.

    8. Re:Further development on the case by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's theft, not a global disaster you moron.

    9. Re:Further development on the case by TheGreatGraySkwid · · Score: 1

      Authorities report that the two Ukrainians, identified as cousins Niko and Roman Bellic


      They're Yugoslavian, dude. They think Ukrainians are assholes.

      --
      The Humblest Mollusk on the Net
  2. FP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    In Soviet Russia, the ATM robs you

    1. Re:FP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, they rob you here too.

  3. Clever... by VeNoM0619 · · Score: 0

    who were each caught with $800,000 in cash stashed in boxes and shopping bags in their home Now that is the most clever thing ever when dealing with theft of this magnitude, almost as good as the "under the mattress" trick.
    --
    Disclaimer: I am not god.
    We may not be created equal
    But we can be treated equal.
    1. Re:Clever... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Use it to buy gold and then dissolve it in aqua regia. If it was good enough to hide Jew gold from the Nazis, it will be good enough to hide gold from the FBI.

    2. Re:Clever... by ewhac · · Score: 1

      almost as good as the "under the mattress" trick.

      ...Or the in-the-freezer trick.

      Schwab

    3. Re:Clever... by davester666 · · Score: 1

      And yet, from an article I read yesterday, Citibank still denies that their machine was compromised...

      [sorry, couldn't be bothered to track it down right now...]

      --
      Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
    4. Re:Clever... by slawo · · Score: 1

      If I were them I would have put the money on a new account... at City Bank...

      --
      The road to hell is paved with good intentions...
    5. Re:Clever... by GIL_Dude · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I don't know enough about this to have a real opinion I guess, but I had sort of made the assumption that PINs worked like passwords in Linux and Windows - the server wouldn't know your password (PIN), but would know the HASH only. I guess these folks are saying that you can actually steal the PIN itself from a bank's server? I'd think it more likely that you could steal the hashes and then knowing that the PINs are generally 4 digit numbers, crack the hash. But if they directly store the PIN on their servers - that seems like a stupid idea.

    6. Re:Clever... by CastrTroy · · Score: 2, Informative

      Well, with only 10,000 possible pins, it wouldn't matter to store the hashes, because either would be trivial to break. Many ATM cards and systems support up to 6 digits, but it's not advisable to use them, because there are still a lot of machines that don't accept 6 digit pins. Either way, it would be trivially easy to generate the rainbow tables for every 6 digit numeric string.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    7. Re:Clever... by johninsf · · Score: 1

      I don't think it's that easy. When I store PINs in a one-way encryption, it is not just the PIN, it would be something like: ADFASV1234asdf where the pin was 1234. And the rest would be "secret", so don't tell anyone. And it gets more complicated than that.

    8. Re:Clever... by JFitzsimmons · · Score: 1

      What?

      --
      Beware he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master. -Anonymous
    9. Re:Clever... by ZDRuX · · Score: 1

      Only reason for them saying this would be to make it easier for the average Joe to understand what happened. I`m pretty confident the hashes were stolen, and I doubt you'd find your PIN Code written inside the magnetic stripe or on the ATM Machine like you said yourself.

      It makes it more hacker-like saying they stole PIN Codes.

      Brute forcing a 4-digit hash would probably take seconds, so it wouldn't have been much of an effort regardless of what they stole.

      --
      The magical number is: 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
    10. Re:Clever... by fullgandoo · · Score: 1

      Yes it is pretty stupid to store clear PINs on servers and I'm not sure how this bank was doing it and what happened.
      These days, it is usually PIN offsets that are stored on servers in encrypted form. The encryption is done on a separate hardware device. The encryption keys are also generated and kept on the hardware device itself and the server has no access to it.
      I suspect that PINs were NOT stolen from the banks servers but "skimmed" from the ATM itself.
      This is a tried and tested fraud where they install a skimming device on top of the ATM card reader. When you use your card on the ATM, the device reads the card data. In addition, they put install a small hidden camera on the ATM which records the PIN you enter. After that, it is a simple process to encode blank cards with your data and use the PIN you entered to withdraw cash from your account.

    11. Re:Clever... by IamTheRealMike · · Score: 1

      OK so here's the trick. Your PIN number is not stored in the card, nor on the banks servers. In fact it's not stored anywhere at all. The story summary is confused, but it's not surprising because they way this works is not really intuitive.

      Your PIN number is in fact a function of your card number. It's fixed for the lifetime of the card. When you "change" your PIN, all you do is store an offset (in the clear) from the real pin number on the card. Whatever you type in has that offset subtracted and then checked against the real PIN.

      The function is basically an encryption of the card number, followed by a truncation. If you know the encryption key (which is in every ATM, inside a secure/tamper-proof chip), you can calculate the PIN number of any account number.

      It sounds like what happened here is the most serious breach a card system can have - a gang managed to steal both account numbers and the the key used to protect them. That's why the bank had to issue new cards. The old ones were compromised for life.

    12. Re:Clever... by Peeteriz · · Score: 1

      Bullshit, the encryption keys for PIN's are not stored in any ATM's. That would be ridiculous, there is absolutely no way that one bank would give it's keys to another bank's ATM - but the ATM's can and do interoperate.

      There are two options - for magstripe cards, PIN-check is done by ATM sending an encryped packet containing card number, pin and the transaction requested to the card-issuing bank (even if that bank is on the other side of the world) where a high-security-module in the bank that essentially is a black-box confirms if the transaction/PIN is valid and should be accepted.
      These keys are obviously important - see for example the publically available guidelines from Visa, Mastercard or Amex that specify the requirements for these HSM's, their management, rooms/buildings containing them, etc. If such a key is somehow compromised, then that would allow the fraud described and the only solution would be to block and re-issue the whole range cards affected.

      For chip (EMV-type mostly) cards PIN validation is done by the card itself.
      Compromising a bank's private key could lead to crooks being able to create a fake card that could authenticate to the ATM as being issued by the compromised bank, but that hasn't happened ever yet, AFAIK.

      Of course, it's possible that the existing crooks compromised no keys and simply got quite a lot of cardnumbers+PIN's using a skimmer device on some ATM's or a compromised POS somewhere - simply recording the magstripe data and PIN that the real customers entered at that place.

    13. Re:Clever... by Peeteriz · · Score: 1

      Read the article more carefully -

      it appears that no keys were compromised, it was similar to the traditional skimmer scenario.

      Crooks cracked a transaction-processing server, and "legitimate parties' information was captured through the use of malicious software" - so apparently via some rootkit+logging they captured full data for some real transactions that were made by these customers.

      It still seems ridiculous. Transaction-processing servers has reason on being able to access the PIN's used in the transaction. Mandatory security requirements apparently weren't followed and it will cost the bank the mentioned two million in losses to help educate them.

    14. Re:Clever... by stevey · · Score: 1

      The parent was talking about using a salt to ensure that the hashes wouldn't be trivially reversible.

    15. Re:Clever... by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      OK so here's the trick. Your PIN number is not stored in the card, nor on the banks servers. In fact it's not stored anywhere at all.

      It must be stored somewhere, at least temporarily, or they wouldn't be able to tell you what it is.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    16. Re:Clever... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dude Hash of only 10k values?

      Done.

  4. Fixed. by bigstrat2003 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Citibank is reissuing ATM cards following a December server breach in which hackers stole customer PIN codes... I believe you misspelled "ATM machine cards" and "PIN numbers", sir. Please correct this oversight as soon as is convenient for you.
    --
    "16MB (fuck off, MiB fascists)" - The Mighty Buzzard
    1. Re:Fixed. by stewbacca · · Score: 1

      They forgot to run the BIT test on the ATM machines to verify the PIN numbers.

    2. Re:Fixed. by JayAitch · · Score: 1

      On an unrelated note I'm still getting used to not calling them MAC machines. Had no idea it was a trademarked term until it went away.

    3. Re:Fixed. by dreamchaser · · Score: 0, Redundant

      Technically it's just ATM, because the M stands for Machine. If you're going to be pedantic then do it correctly.

    4. Re:Fixed. by c6gunner · · Score: 2, Funny

      Technically it's just ATM, because the M stands for Machine. If you're going to be pedantic then do it correctly.

      WHOOOOOSH!

    5. Re:Fixed. by Dancindan84 · · Score: 1

      Whoosh...

      --
      "Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much." - Oscar Wilde
    6. Re:Fixed. by MightyYar · · Score: 1

      Are you from the Philly area? My wife and I still call them MAC machines and MAC cards, which causes trouble since we don't live in Philly anymore.

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
    7. Re:Fixed. by statemachine · · Score: 4, Funny

      Wait, wait! I need to attach a wind turbine to this thread.

      OK, go.

    8. Re:Fixed. by maxume · · Score: 1

      You missed that he put number after PIN, so you didn't get it write either.

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    9. Re:Fixed. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You missed that he put number after PIN, so you didn't get it write either.

      You sir did not get "write" right. So you are also not write. :-P
    10. Re:Fixed. by Macgruder · · Score: 1

      Used to live in PGH, they were MAC machines there, too. Took me awhile to catch on to what other folks meant.

      Now I live out in the midwest, and when I slip and ask for a MAC machine, no one has any idea to what I'm referring.

      --
      I'm not crazy,I'm actively irresponsible.
    11. Re:Fixed. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You jest, but there's actually a good reason for saying "ATM machine" and "PIN number" and the like.

      If you just say "ATM cards," you could be referring to cards that have a magnetic strip that are put into Automated Teller Machines or you could be referring to cards (PCI, etc) that are part of a router or computer that's communicating using Asynchronous Transfer Mode. PIN code could be referring to a Personal Identification Number or it could be the ICD-9 code for Prostatic Intraepithelial Neoplasia or Progressive Inflammatory Neuropathy (yes, I used wikipedia and no, I have no idea whether those two conditions have actual ICD-9 codes).

      Now in this case, it's pretty clear by the context which references the acronyms are intended to refer to, but that's not always the case. And in cases where there's any ambiguity, it can be very useful to append the full word represented by the last letter of the acronym. This is especially true when an acronym has multiple definitions within a certain space. For instance, ASP can mean Application Service Provider or Active Server Page and there are many contexts where it would be easy to confuse the two. But using ASP provider or ASP page removes the ambiguity.

    12. Re:Fixed. by Zardus · · Score: 1

      Dude, come om! Yu misspeled 'right' to! Dont make tipos when corecting peaple!

      --
      You can mod your friends, you can mod your nose, but you can't mod your friend's nose.
    13. Re:Fixed. by pfleming · · Score: 1

      You jest, but there's actually a good reason for saying "ATM machine" and "PIN number" and the like.

      If you just say "ATM cards," you could be referring to cards that have a magnetic strip that are put into Automated Teller Machines or you could be referring to cards (PCI, etc) that are part of a router or computer that's communicating using Asynchronous Transfer Mode. PIN code could be referring to a Personal Identification Number or it could be the ICD-9 code for Prostatic Intraepithelial Neoplasia or Progressive Inflammatory Neuropathy (yes, I used wikipedia and no, I have no idea whether those two conditions have actual ICD-9 codes).

      Now in this case, it's pretty clear by the context which references the acronyms are intended to refer to, but that's not always the case. And in cases where there's any ambiguity, it can be very useful to append the full word represented by the last letter of the acronym. This is especially true when an acronym has multiple definitions within a certain space. For instance, ASP can mean Application Service Provider or Active Server Page and there are many contexts where it would be easy to confuse the two. But using ASP provider or ASP page removes the ambiguity.

      ID-10-T
    14. Re:Fixed. by ebob9 · · Score: 1

      "PIN" Number = "Personal Identification Number" Number
      "ATM" Machine = "Automated Teller Machine" Machine

      So, unless there was sarcasm I missed, I think the original post was correct.

    15. Re:Fixed. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wooooosh.

    16. Re:Fixed. by bigstrat2003 · · Score: 1

      Yeah, you missed the sarcasm. I was joking there. :)

      --
      "16MB (fuck off, MiB fascists)" - The Mighty Buzzard
    17. Re:Fixed. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Them automated teller atm machines always take my personal indentification pin numbers and never give me any money!

    18. Re:Fixed. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Technically it's just ATM, because the M stands for Machine. If you're going to be pedantic then do it correctly.

      Wait, so what does the "N" in "PIN numbers" stand for? Now you are just confusing me, dreamchaser chaser.
    19. Re:Fixed. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I believe you misspelled "ATM machine cards" and "PIN numbers", sir. Please correct this oversight as soon as is convenient for you.

      OK, I was going to give you the benefit of the doubt, but I now have it on good authority you're so stupid that you're unable to understand phrases which don't contain an internal redundancy.

      So, just for you, we'llcontinue to refer to Automatic Teller Machine machines and Personal Identification Number numbers.

    20. Re:Fixed. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Isn't ATM machine a pleonasm, since ATM stands for Automated teller machine?

    21. Re:Fixed. by Fred_A · · Score: 1

      I believe you misspelled "ATM machine cards" and "PIN numbers", sir. Please correct this oversight as soon as is convenient for you.

      As long as this time they make sure that they're really Personal PIN Numbers this time. :)

      --

      May contain traces of nut.
      Made from the freshest electrons.
    22. Re:Fixed. by bigstrat2003 · · Score: 1

      You know, all the replies helpfully "reminding" me that "ATM machine" and "PIN number" are redundant make me weep for the state of /. :/

      Also, I think I have hearing loss from the deafening WHOOOOSH made as the joke went over some people's heads.

      --
      "16MB (fuck off, MiB fascists)" - The Mighty Buzzard
  5. initialisms by syrinx · · Score: 4, Funny

    two Ukrainian immigrants who were each caught with $800,000 in cash stashed in boxes and shopping bags in their homes.

    I assume the boxes and bags all had big dollar signs on the side of them.

    Also, I'm extremely impressed that TFS (I didn't RTFA, of course) had no incidents of "ATM machine" or "PIN number".

    --
    Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.
    1. Re:initialisms by Gat0r30y · · Score: 3, Funny

      I assume the boxes and bags all had big dollar signs on the side of them. Not mentioned in the article is the neighbor who turned them in noting to the police, there's something funny about the two guys living there: they are always wearing black and white horizontal stripped jumpsuits and running around with masks and bags marked $.
      --
      Prediction: The real iPhone killer is going to be sex robots from Japan. Think about it.
    2. Re:initialisms by CastrTroy · · Score: 1

      Here's some footage of the culprits in action.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
  6. Time to look into other means of security by pwnies · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ...other than just a pin code?

    Maybe it's just me, but a simple 4 digit number doesn't provide all that much security in my mind. How easy is it to simply glance over someone's shoulders and read their pin? Aren't there any means of verifying user identity in a quick secure manner?

    I know that some banks will send their users a text message with a confirmation code, but this seems a bit inconvenient (cell battery can die, text can take a long time to arrive, etc.). Anyone on /. have any ideas?

    1. Re:Time to look into other means of security by pclminion · · Score: 4, Insightful

      What difference is the PIN going to make when the way they were acquired in the first place was by breaking into a database?

      This problem is already solved. It's called an RSA dongle. "Oh, but it's a pain!" So is having your checking account cleared out.

    2. Re:Time to look into other means of security by The+Warlock · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Biometrics, of course. Fingerprint scanning, retinal scanning, voice recognition, or whatever. It's the only way to really verify. The problem is how expensive it would be to refit existing ATMs.

      --
      I've upped my standards, so up yours.
    3. Re:Time to look into other means of security by Gat0r30y · · Score: 5, Funny

      My personal solution: being broke as hell.

      --
      Prediction: The real iPhone killer is going to be sex robots from Japan. Think about it.
    4. Re:Time to look into other means of security by Gat0r30y · · Score: 2, Insightful

      That sounds all well and good until russian hackers break into the fingerprint, retinal scan, and colon map database the bank keeps. The real solution here is security at the server.

      --
      Prediction: The real iPhone killer is going to be sex robots from Japan. Think about it.
    5. Re:Time to look into other means of security by The+Warlock · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I imagine it's a lot easier to type in a PIN stolen from a database than it is to, um, change your thumbprint or the pattern of the veins in your retina to one stolen from a database.

      Perhaps I'm missing something.

      --
      I've upped my standards, so up yours.
    6. Re:Time to look into other means of security by Kickersny.com · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Biometrics, of course. Fingerprint scanning, retinal scanning, voice recognition, or whatever. It's the only way to really verify. The problem is how expensive it would be to refit existing ATMs.

      The trouble with biometrics is that it can't be changed. Additionally, the various ways have bad flaws:

      • Fingerprints are a terrible idea because you leave a copy of your private key on everything you touch.
      • Voice recognition is a terrible idea because everyone within earshot can hear your private key.
      • Retinal scanning would fail if someone was in an accident or had surgery or something.

      As a general rule, I wouldn't use my fingerprint to protect anything that's worth more to a criminal than my finger is to me.
      http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4396831.stm

    7. Re:Time to look into other means of security by edraven · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Retinal scanning would fail if someone was in an accident or had surgery or something. Or just went on a bender last night. I knew a guy who loved to tell the story of when he was consulting at a military installation that employed retinal scanners among other security measures. He went out drinking one night and the next day when he reported for work he was a little bloodshot and the scanners didn't recognize him. And the metal walls came down while the guys with shotguns were summoned...
    8. Re:Time to look into other means of security by edraven · · Score: 1

      You are. There are ways to deceive biometric scanners.

    9. Re:Time to look into other means of security by gnick · · Score: 4, Insightful

      No - he's spot on. Of course biometric scanners can be deceived. His point is that it's much more difficult to trick a fingerprint scanner than it is to type in four numbers. There's no infallible way to secure the machines - But they could be made much more secure without a major inconvenience to the end user.

      The big problem is the expense of implementation.

      --
      He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
    10. Re:Time to look into other means of security by AKAImBatman · · Score: 1

      This problem is already solved. It's called an RSA dongle. "Oh, but it's a pain!" So is having your checking account cleared out.

      No need for a dongle. Just build it into the ATM card. That way the machine could authorize no more than one transaction every minute. (One transaction per token generated.) If bad guys got hold of your account number, they'd still need to physical card to crack the PIN. It might be slightly annoying that multiple transactions at an ATM would take a little longer, but the vast majority of people would never notice.

      That being said, if it WAS Citibank's servers that were compromised, these guys would have been able to heist the shared secret as well. Then they'd be able to reproduce the RSA token in your card. According to Citibank, however, their servers were not compromised. They claim that a third party clearing service was responsible for the leak. (Who knows?)

    11. Re:Time to look into other means of security by nine-times · · Score: 1

      It seems to me the bigger problem is not issuing new PIN codes when you *know* they've been compromised. They notified the FBI and then sat around for months doing nothing, when they could have contacted the affected customers and said, "Here is your new PIN".

    12. Re:Time to look into other means of security by j00r0m4nc3r · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Of course biometric scanners can be deceived. His point is that it's much more difficult to trick a fingerprint scanner than it is to type in four numbers.

      When there's $2+ million on the line you can bet the baddies will take the time to work out a solution.

    13. Re:Time to look into other means of security by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's not all that hard to obscure it. I shield the keypad with my wallet while I enter my PIN (number) into the ATM (Machine).

      - R

    14. Re:Time to look into other means of security by sm62704 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Maybe it's just me, but a simple 4 digit number doesn't provide all that much security in my mind. How easy is it to simply glance over someone's shoulders and read their pin?

      I no longer use a debit card for that very reason - my bank account was cleaned out by a woman I took pity on. She'd been strung out on crack and had nothing left but the clothes on her back. She wanted to dry out and get into rehab. So I stupidly let her stay at my apartment for a week.

      During that week she obviously watched over my sholder at the ATM, then stole a book of checks. And the keys to my car I'd only made one payment on.

      The bank made good on the forged checks, but not the ATM. Their rationale was that if the person had the PIN the only way to get it was have it given to them!

      I journaled about it her:
      Ask Slashdot: Women
      The Crackwhore and the Nerd
      Party Like It's 1976

      --
      mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
    15. Re:Time to look into other means of security by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      As someone who works for a company that makes banking software, I have to tell you - the entire banking industry isn't worried about security.

      Sounds surprising right? That 4 digit little code is just like putting a lock on the front door - it stops casual passer-bys from just walking in and taking things.

      What banks are actually worried about is accountability. Accountability is WAY more important than security. When you use your debit card to withdraw 20$, or pay for a meal at a fast food location, your transaction (and balance check, and debit hold, and finalization and 3-4 other behind-the-scenes transactions) are noted by every machine and institution they pass through.

      That's how they could know exactly which accounts were compromised.

      In fact, most of the security that exists in banking networks is of the most simple type: They keep it physically separate from the 'internet' as a whole.

      So, you can slap a device on an outgoing ATM and record cards & pins, but, these still nail you down to physical locations. In the end, that's what they rely on to catch thieves, and they have no problems moving the numbers back to their starting positions in the meanwhile.

      Remember: Security is a compromise with usability and accessibility. More of one means less of the other. Would you use an ATM if it took you 5 minutes to pass a security muster?

    16. Re:Time to look into other means of security by edraven · · Score: 1

      If that was his point, then that's what he ought to have said, and I wouldn't have disagreed with him. But it isn't. What he actually said strongly implied that the only way to fool a biometric scanner is to have surgery. Possibly very involved surgery.
      Of course there's no such thing as perfect security, there is only a balance between the expense you force on the potential intruder compared to the risk of loss from the intrusion, taking into account the expense you incur for implementing the security itself. It's all an equation, and if one variable is overstated it does throw the equation off.

    17. Re:Time to look into other means of security by kiehlster · · Score: 1

      I would opt for even a simple face recognition check. For one, the criminal will likely not have a picture of the person they stole the card from. If they stopped to take a picture of the person, it'd buy the victim time to subdue the thief. Additionally, if someone steals money, the bank could block both the card and the criminal's face. If they show their face again, the ATM booth could sound an alarm or lock them up if it's a card-access booth.

    18. Re:Time to look into other means of security by The+Warlock · · Score: 1

      No, I meant what he said. When it comes down to it, you only need to make the machine secure enough so that it's less of a hassle, risk, and expense to just tie it to the back of a pickup truck and pull it out of the wall. A four-digit code doesn't do that. Biometrics probably would.

      --
      I've upped my standards, so up yours.
    19. Re:Time to look into other means of security by camperdave · · Score: 1

      Yes, you're missing the fact that biometrics change over time. If you get a cut on your thumb you won't be able to get cash out of the ATM until it heals. A cataract could lock you out of your account forever. Etc.

      And the biggest thing you're missing is that outfitting hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of ATMs and Point of Sale machines with biometric sensors is going to run up far more of a bill than covering loss from ATM fraud to begin with.

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    20. Re:Time to look into other means of security by Hordeking · · Score: 1

      I imagine it's a lot easier to type in a PIN stolen from a database than it is to, um, change your thumbprint or the pattern of the veins in your retina to one stolen from a database.

      Perhaps I'm missing something.

      Or you could just overload the fingerprint/vein-pattern/retinal data in the database with your own...or a dedicated patsy.
      --
      Disclaimer: The opinions and actions of the US Gov't are in no way representative of those held by this author or its ci
    21. Re:Time to look into other means of security by Hordeking · · Score: 1

      Biometrics, of course. Fingerprint scanning, retinal scanning, voice recognition, or whatever. It's the only way to really verify. The problem is how expensive it would be to refit existing ATMs.

      The trouble with biometrics is that it can't be changed. Additionally, the various ways have bad flaws:

      • Fingerprints are a terrible idea because you leave a copy of your private key on everything you touch.
      • Voice recognition is a terrible idea because everyone within earshot can hear your private key.
      • Retinal scanning would fail if someone was in an accident or had surgery or something.

      As a general rule, I wouldn't use my fingerprint to protect anything that's worth more to a criminal than my finger is to me. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4396831.stm

      Fingerprints would be useless for an amputee.
      --
      Disclaimer: The opinions and actions of the US Gov't are in no way representative of those held by this author or its ci
    22. Re:Time to look into other means of security by tattood · · Score: 1

      * Fingerprints are a terrible idea because you leave a copy of your private key on everything you touch.
      * Voice recognition is a terrible idea because everyone within earshot can hear your private key.
      * Retinal scanning would fail if someone was in an accident or had surgery or something. * Even though you leave your finger print that wont help the thieves. They are not going to follow around the thousands of people to capture their fingerprints.
      * Voice recognition, same as fingerprints.
      * So you get in an accident, you go in and get your retinal scan updated.

      I think they should use biometrics, in addition to a PIN. As other people have stated, security should be what you know, and who you are.
      --
      WTB [sig], PST!!!
    23. Re:Time to look into other means of security by edraven · · Score: 1

      If I say you ought to have said that, I'd be repeating myself, wouldn't I? ;)
      Biometrics does have its own problems, of course, chief among them being that if it's defeated once you have to throw it out. For exactly the reason you originally mentioned: that it's easier to change a PIN than a fingerprint, which is what you'd have to ask the legitimate account-holder to do if someone actually did defeat the system. That, or go to the expense of implementing something completely different. If someone steals PINs from a database, you can change the PINs and beef up security on the database. You don't have that option with biometrics. So even if it does raise the bar sufficiently to prevent 99.999% of intruders from even attempting it, it only takes one person who perceives it as a personal challenge to force you to start over.
      But really, I think we all agree: the system currently in place is grossly insufficient, and it's the banks' responsibility to do better. They can just do better than biometrics.

    24. Re:Time to look into other means of security by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So the retinal scan wouldn't work if I had my tits surgically enlarged? Typical male ATMs...

    25. Re:Time to look into other means of security by LandDolphin · · Score: 2, Funny

      Seems the problem was more wiht you letting a crackhead into your life then with the bank's debit card.

      --
      Spelling and Grammar errors have been added to this post for your enjoyment
    26. Re:Time to look into other means of security by necrogram · · Score: 1

      ever try using a rsa dongle? you have to be looking at said dongle to use it. I'd rather keep it on my keys for that reason, *plus* your rsa key is seperate from the card. so you have to have two things and your pin to access the account.
       
      yes, i have one of these dongles hanging off my keys, and its used quite frequently.

    27. Re:Time to look into other means of security by prelelat · · Score: 1

      You mean like the picture ID on credit cards(show ID to use the card) as well a signature(show ID to use the card again). This wouldn't stop identity theft, and someone still using your debit card, but that's 3 different checks that can be used to verify the person. It's getting to the point where I would rather get rid of my debit card and just use a visa/master card and carry small sums of cash on me for little things. Credit Card companies in my experience have been much better at returning your money in the event of it being stolen and used.

      The only problem is Miss. Fancy that spasms at the teller for asking for ID. I gladly give it to them I would rather them know it was me using the card then Mr. Robby.

      But yeah that 4 digit pin code is nothing.

    28. Re:Time to look into other means of security by Stan92057 · · Score: 0

      I don't know for the life of me why ATM's and Credit Cards don't have picture ID. The money spend on making this happen would be allot less then whats getting stolen every year.

      --
      Jack of all trades,master of none
    29. Re:Time to look into other means of security by edraven · · Score: 1

      Benefit of an RSA SecurID key or something of that order would be it could also be used for online transactions.

    30. Re:Time to look into other means of security by Gat0r30y · · Score: 1

      a dedicated patsy. I gotta get me one of those.
      --
      Prediction: The real iPhone killer is going to be sex robots from Japan. Think about it.
    31. Re:Time to look into other means of security by Gat0r30y · · Score: 1

      I don't recall implying that you needed to have surgery. All you need is the data. What I was trying to get at, is biometrics isn't a solution to a server vulnerability. That is because the server is still prone to getting hacked and if they can't secure 4 digits, I'm not entirely sure its a good idea to give them your fingerprints and so on.

      --
      Prediction: The real iPhone killer is going to be sex robots from Japan. Think about it.
    32. Re:Time to look into other means of security by maxume · · Score: 1

      The other option would be to pay a little more attention to the crack addict that you just let into your apartment (on a scale of convenience, this is more convenient than getting cleaned out by the crack addict, but less convenient than not letting the crack addict into your life and continuing to use a debit card).

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    33. Re:Time to look into other means of security by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      BALLSACK SCANNING

    34. Re:Time to look into other means of security by Hoi+Polloi · · Score: 1

      I was fingerprinted for a security clearance while I had bad psoriasis on both hands (it has since cleared up). My fingerprints were just smooth, thickened skin at that point. I pointed this out but they didn't care. I'd love to see the blank prints they got.

      --
      It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
    35. Re:Time to look into other means of security by riceboy50 · · Score: 1

      colon map Perhaps you don't mind having your colon mapped, but some of us aren't into that kinda stuff!
      --
      ~ I am logged on, therefore I am.
    36. Re:Time to look into other means of security by digitrev · · Score: 1

      Well, I do pity you for getting so royally screwed over. Did you change banks after that? Also, after a bit of research into credit/debit cards in the US of A, I am incredibly confused. Any chance you can give me a rough approximation of how your system works? In Canada, it's fairly straightforward.

      Debit cards are issued by banks, and associated with one or two accounts in your name (your savings or your checking account). At an ABM with your bank's logo, you can make deposits, withdrawals, and transfer money between accounts. At any ABM, you can make withdrawals, though there's usually a $1.50 fee for using the ABM. Your debit card also works at any Interac machine in Canada. Debit cards are protected by a single PIN, usually 4 digits in length. Upon using a debit card, the money immediately gets withdrawn from your bank account. You can't make online purchases with a debit card.

      Credit cards are issued by Visa/Mastercard/etc..., usually through a bank. Credit cards are generally also associated with a particular account, usually the same bank account as your debit card. Credit cards can be used for cash advances at any ABM, though. Credit cards can be used at certain locations that accept credit (usually only Visa and Mastercard). Credits cards are protected by your signature. Credit cards can be used to make online purchases (assuming the place accepts a credit card).

      --
      Cynical Idealist
    37. Re:Time to look into other means of security by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think you are forgetting another important point- if someone does manage to steal your biometric data, they have it for the rest of your life. Can't go around changing your retina's as easily as a password....

    38. Re:Time to look into other means of security by AKAImBatman · · Score: 1

      ever try using a rsa dongle?
      I have two of them.

      you have to be looking at said dongle to use it.
      No, no you don't. Not if you build it into the ATM card. Smartcards exist for that very reason.

      I'd rather keep it on my keys for that reason, *plus* your rsa key is seperate from the card. so you have to have two things and your pin to access the account.
      Putting aside for a moment that such a tactic would be inconvenient and would lead to a large number of fobs on your keychain, it wouldn't add any real-world security to the process. Instead of one physical item, you'd need two physical items. Most people would find some clever way of keeping the two items together, thus defeating your attempt at increased security.

      Putting the RSA auth into the card gives you secure two-factor authentication: Account #+RSA+PIN. The account number is analogous to a username in this case. The RSA token (something you have) thus works in concert with a standard PIN (something you know) thus providing strong security.

      The problem in the article was that the cards were easy to defeat because the PIN and card number can easily be captured and reproduced. Thus just account and PIN (i.e. user/pass) are insufficient. The RSA token secures that further by demonstrating a shared secret without divulging the secret to any party who was not already aware of it.
    39. Re:Time to look into other means of security by davidsyes · · Score: 1

      And, here, I thought the BANKS' ATM machines looked for color or fired a light or laser beam onto the card to make sure it at least returned a reasonable image or result, just as one more fraud detection mechanism.

      What is WITH these banking execs and ATM designers? These days, the banks have so many cameras IN THEM and in pinholes in the ATM kiosks that i'm surprised they haven't quietly shot pics to match against cards and pin hashes just to find out how many customers SHARE the card. Differing faces would be one way to get an ESTIMATE, at least from the ATM machine side.

      But, since store clerks sometimes have wandering eyes (one at Rite-Aid took too long to take his eyes away from the pin pad before I started typing, so I looked at him long enough to make him turn his head...) i make sure they don't see ALL of my pin. Yeh, I know about TJMAX and their pin collectors stories...

      Then again, the banks don't give too much of a rat's ass because they can turn to the FED, or they can just raise fees and charges on us all. We're their "market correction" machine, just as we are the ATM machine to the "government"...

      --
      Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
    40. Re:Time to look into other means of security by Missing_dc · · Score: 1

      Is it just me or does anyone else see a push to use the national ID AND your bank card in tandem on ATMs? It would make spoofing them a tad more difficult AND it would further the perceived need for a national ID card.
      (Que the Tinfoil Hatters and the conspiracy theorists on 3 2 1...)

      --
      How amazed would you be to suddenly find that you just forgot what I wrote and you needed to reread my post.... again.
    41. Re:Time to look into other means of security by pclminion · · Score: 1

      The problem in the article was that the cards were easy to defeat because the PIN and card number can easily be captured and reproduced. Thus just account and PIN (i.e. user/pass) are insufficient.

      I originally brought up the RSA token, but it now occurs to me that perhaps it would have been overkill at least in THIS scenario. Suppose all PINs are kept in a database. But what is written to the mag-stripe on the card is NOT the PIN, but rather an RSA-signed hash of the PIN. The ATM verifies the signed hash against the PIN you input on the console. Now, even if the PIN database is stolen, the attackers cannot forge the ATM card because that would require them to recreate these signed hashes, which is impossible. The only way to clone the ATM card would be to physically acquire it and copy the data off the mag-stripe. And if you already have the card, what's the point of cloning it?

    42. Re:Time to look into other means of security by pclminion · · Score: 1

      Ick. In the above post I should have written "account number" everywhere I said PIN. Sorry. Obviously the cards do not have the PIN on them.

    43. Re:Time to look into other means of security by AKAImBatman · · Score: 1

      But what is written to the mag-stripe on the card is NOT the PIN, but rather an RSA-signed hash of the PIN. The ATM verifies the signed hash against the PIN you input on the console.
      There are two problems there. First is that the security leak was supposedly at a third party level. i.e. The ATMs could have been compromised, the servers the ATMs talk to could have been compromised, etc., etc. etc. Anyway you cut it, the hash would have been just as compromised.

      Secondly, the ATM cannot verify the data by itself. That isn't its job. If it was, I could put a forged card in the machine that checks out and get money from the machine. Instead, ATMs talk to secure banking servers that verify the information and process the transaction. The ATM is merely a front-end to that transaction and provides the money on behalf of the bank. (Whichever bank that might be.)

      In result, ATMs line up with the authentication required by a VPN fairly well. The information going over the wire could be compromised. So how do we prevent compromises? An RSA token is a good solution. Both your bank and your card share a secret. (i.e. A seed for a psuedo-random number generator.) By communicating non-reversible information that is hashed against a changing value (in this case: time), security is greatly increased. Thus I definitely think that smartcards are a good solution.

      The only part that sucks is that it would take a while to get the current magstrip infrastructure converted over to a smartcard infrastructure.
    44. Re:Time to look into other means of security by pjt33 · · Score: 1

      It's also a lot easier to change your PIN than it is to change your retina when someone cracks into the database. Cuts both ways.

    45. Re:Time to look into other means of security by EvanED · · Score: 1

      If you get a cut on your thumb you won't be able to get cash out of the ATM until it heals. A cataract could lock you out of your account forever. Etc.

      Actually I'm just running into this on my laptop. I log in using a fingerprint scan because it's quicker and easier than a password. (And besides, I have the scanner, might as well use it. Also, I used my middle finger, so every time I log on I can say I'm giving Windows the finger.) But I'm also doing a lot of (gym) rock climbing, and the texture of the hand holds often means that I get little tiny scrapes on my hands. My most recent session seems to have done this in a way that makes it way way harder to log on, to the point where I'm going to be using my password for a few days.

      (BTW, presumably if you had some permanent change like the cataract you would just go into your bank and get a new scan, or have them disable the authentication, so saying you would be locked out forever is being alarmist.)

    46. Re:Time to look into other means of security by pfleming · · Score: 1

      I imagine it's a lot easier to type in a PIN stolen from a database than it is to, um, change your thumbprint or the pattern of the veins in your retina to one stolen from a database.

      Perhaps I'm missing something.

      I think the idea is that if you have access to the database you can insert your information replacing someone else's.
    47. Re:Time to look into other means of security by CodeBuster · · Score: 1

      They could have at least hashed the PINs in the database so stealing the data from the database would not result in immediate compromise of the PINs. This is basic network login security 101 when designing this type of system.

    48. Re:Time to look into other means of security by Vengeance_au · · Score: 1

      How about something more fundamental, and doesn't need any extra layers by the end user - public/private encryption and one way hashes of the PIN? PIN in the clear = breach waiting to happen.

    49. Re:Time to look into other means of security by EvanED · · Score: 1

      Retinal scanning would fail if someone was in an accident or had surgery or something.

      I don't think this is a good reason to reject it. If the accident/surgery just changes the authentication token, the person can just go to the bank and update it. If it makes it so they won't be able to authenticate, it can just be set up to not require that particular token. The system will have to take them into account, but it's not exactly hard to deal with, and the exceptions will only happen rarely. The other issues (e.g. you can't change your tokens if someone else gets them) are much much better reasons to reject this.

    50. Re:Time to look into other means of security by sjames · · Score: 1

      You have a point, but it suggests a counterpoint. Once someone DOES trick the biometric device, they will get away with it for a long time because most people (including security consultants) have swallowed the line that they aren't susceptible to that sort of thing.

      The Mythbusters amongst many others have demonstrated that anything from molded gelatin to a simple xerox copy of a fingerprint can be used as easily as a finger. In their test, the most expensive and "professional" unit was the easiest to fool.

      Most of the units don't actually capture the fingerprint, just select data from it. However, given an example unit to work with, it's probably not too hard (relative to a ROI of millions) to come up with a program that given the biometric digest will print a fingerprint that will produce it (even if it doesn't look just like the original).

    51. Re:Time to look into other means of security by uniquename72 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Probably a Ukrainian disguised as a crackwhore -- social engineering strikes again.

    52. Re:Time to look into other means of security by Xarius · · Score: 1

      GP probably meant they'd change the data on the database to match their biometrics?

      --
      C17H21NO4
    53. Re:Time to look into other means of security by necrogram · · Score: 1

      thats why i like using an RSA keyfob. your pin become your 4 digit pin + the 6 digit rsa number. the result is a one time pin with out having to beef up all the hardware to talk to a new atm card.

    54. Re:Time to look into other means of security by AKAImBatman · · Score: 1

      You're assuming that most ATMs are designed to handle 10 digit PINs. Any ATM that doesn't handle such a PIN (and most don't; the standard is 4 digit) would need a software update at the least, and a complete replacement at the most.

    55. Re:Time to look into other means of security by HeadlessNotAHorseman · · Score: 1

      Two words for you: stump prints. We need to do some research into the uniqueness of stumps so that we can determine if they are useful for biometric identification purposes.

      --
      I like my coffee the way I like my women - roasted and ground up into little tiny pieces.
    56. Re:Time to look into other means of security by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The PIN code isn't the only security.

      ATMs don't normally dispense cash unless you enter your account number by inserting a token (your ATM card). While the token can be forged given the right equipment and knowledge of the unencrypted account number, most people (including most computer experts) don't have that equipment.

      Even if your next-door neighbor learns your secret PIN, it doesn't do him or her any good unless he or she is willing to mug you to get your card. ("Curses! Foiled again!") If someone mugs you and takes your card but doesn't get the PIN, they are likewise screwed (as they deserve to be). 10,000 combinations would be nothing for a computer to crack iff each try were free, but with an ATM, each try has a significant cost (time, wear and tear on fingers). Plus, any reasonable ATM design will reject (or better yet, eat) a card involved in a brute force cracking attempt, long before the 50-attempt mark.

      Admittedly, if you had to present the card, the PIN, and a RSA crypto-dongle, the system would be a bit more resistant to attack from more "sophisticated" criminals like the ones the article describes. The question is whether people would accept the extra inconvenience in return for the extra security ... or whether there's a way ("smartcards"?) to upgrade the security infrastructure, such that users see little if any new inconvenience.

    57. Re:Time to look into other means of security by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That would be enough for me to fucking quit.

    58. Re:Time to look into other means of security by __aahurc460 · · Score: 1

      biometrics

    59. Re:Time to look into other means of security by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "I knew a guy who loved to tell the story"

      You were being lied to.

      -Anonymous Spook

    60. Re:Time to look into other means of security by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My reply was in reference to TheWarlock.

    61. Re:Time to look into other means of security by mpe · · Score: 1

      What difference is the PIN going to make when the way they were acquired in the first place was by breaking into a database?

      Why were they being stored in plain text in the database in the first place? Even using something akin to /etc/passwd (without /etc/shadow) would have been more secure.

    62. Re:Time to look into other means of security by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Virtually all fraud crimes will be a thing of past if banks exploit KEY and PIN system described on website www,xwave.co.uk which will make both signature and PIN systems reliable and foolproof.

      Proposed system will eliminate the need for us to protect our personal and card details since fraudsters will not get tempted to misuse these stolen details.

    63. Re:Time to look into other means of security by mpe · · Score: 1

      The trouble with biometrics is that it can't be changed.

      But they can change in unpredictable ways.

      Additionally, the various ways have bad flaws:
      * Fingerprints are a terrible idea because you leave a copy of your private key on everything you touch.
      * Voice recognition is a terrible idea because everyone within earshot can hear your private key.
      * Retinal scanning would fail if someone was in an accident or had surgery or something.


      People's fingerprints and voices can be affected by fairly minor injuries and illnesses. A fingerprint reader isn't going to be able to read a bandaged finger and is likely to get confused by a healing finger. Using voice recognition would also probably be a non starter for paying dentists :)

    64. Re:Time to look into other means of security by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sheezus! The last thing you want is biometrics - you can change your PIN, but you can't change your fingerprints. Once the crooks have got your fingerprints, all they have to do is break into the weakest link in the verification chain, and voila! Account cleaned out. And let's not go into how easy it is to get someone's fingerprints...

    65. Re:Time to look into other means of security by mpe · · Score: 1

      Is it just me or does anyone else see a push to use the national ID AND your bank card in tandem on ATMs? It would make spoofing them a tad more difficult AND it would further the perceived need for a national ID card.

      Actually it is likely to make things easier for the "bad guys". Governments are typically worst at keeping information on their citizens secure than commercial businesses are at keeping information on their customers secure.

    66. Re:Time to look into other means of security by archen · · Score: 1

      "The Crackwhore and the Nerd "

      The next reality tv series?

    67. Re:Time to look into other means of security by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Did you not see the "Bad Idea Jeans" skit on SNL?

    68. Re:Time to look into other means of security by hesaigo999ca · · Score: 1

      You have no idea how stupid the banks are, or how cheap one fo these 2.
      I suggested they keep a fingerprint scanner db on their server and add a fingerprint
      recognition system for each card transaction, they just laughed at me.

      I use this for my keyboard at home, a cheap 100$ logitech, and they laugh at me for having these futuristic concepts! I wonder who is the real fool, me for thinking they actually care to solve this problem, or me for thinking they know how to solve this problem.

    69. Re:Time to look into other means of security by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      And the metal walls came down while the guys with shotguns were summoned...

      That's right, because all military installations arm their guards with shotguns, rather than pesky rifles.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    70. Re:Time to look into other means of security by francium+de+neobie · · Score: 1

      Your leave fingerprints everywhere every day, it's basically public information. Same with your retina (it could be captured with a good enough camera), your voice, your face, etc.

      Even the Mythbusters have managed to break one of those high tech fingerprint scanners and shown the method on TV, do you really think something broken on the TV is secure?!

    71. Re:Time to look into other means of security by Anomalyst · · Score: 1

      > That's right, because all military installations arm their guards with shotguns, rather than pesky rifles. Actually, in order to perform guard duty at Pendleton in the late 70's, I was trained/qualified for .45 automatic pistols and shotguns and issued both while on duty. A shotgun is a far better close quarters and/or enclosed area weapon than an M16 sans bayonet.

      --
      There is no right to feel safe thru security vaudeville at the expense of everyone's freedom, privacy and tax money.
  7. Tall on story, light on details by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It seems clear that insider fraud is responsible. PIN codes are not afaik transmitted anywhere, they are checked locally by the terminal, not sent to any server. The fact that Citibank are taking respobsibility for the fraud is unusual, if PIN codes are stolen they would normally try to blame the customer first. What probably happened is that an insider stole the PIN codes and account information being sent to new card users and provided these to accomplices who used them to create fake cards.

    1. Re:Tall on story, light on details by supersat · · Score: 5, Insightful

      PINs are encrypted and sent across the network. These crooks managed to intercept the PINs at one of the servers that processed them.

      If PINs were checked locally, then every ATM would need to be able to determine the correct PIN for every card inserted into it, which means that one of them could be turned into a PIN-producing machine.

    2. Re:Tall on story, light on details by deKernel · · Score: 1

      You are close to how it works but off by just "this much".
      The actual PIN is never seen "in the clear". What is transmitted is what they call the encrypted PIN block which uses encryption keys stored in the ATM and are unique for each ATM. What this means is that you could only withdrawal money from that card and using that single ATM if you can view the message between the ATM and the host. The host then sends an encrypted pin verification key as well as the encrypted PIN block to a hardware device that reports strictly whether the PIN is good or bad.

      I have a feeling that the crooks were able to get a large volume of track data reads for many cards, and the only real place to get those is if the host software is violating PCI regulations and logging track data to some type of persistent data storage (database or disk file).

    3. Re:Tall on story, light on details by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ATMs should be able to verify PINs locally. At least they used to be able to do so, since the PIN was just an encrypted hash of the account number, the card sequence number and some other bits of information that was on the magnetic strip anyway. The hashing algorithm was documented, the (RSA I think) key however is usually stored inside the keypad and is somewhat protected in hardware, e.g. it gets erased on power loss.
      For those who could change their PIN: that function was implemented by storing the offset to the original PIN on the magnetic strip.
      Some ATMs still use offline verification for cards from foreign countries, or are completely offline to save cost. Those also fail to verify the daily limit (which can easily be rewritten on the mag strip) and appear to be popular with crooks.

    4. Re:Tall on story, light on details by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ATMs have a TMK (Terminal Master Key) that is injected at the factory, or keyed in by an A and B ATM owner/installer.
      The ATM requests a new TWK (Terminal Working Key) after each startup, and/or after so many transactions.
      IF, they were able to capture the data stream and watch the new TWK's then they could decode many, many PINBLOCKS.

      The gotcha here is, the TWK is encrypted by the TMK.. so did they have TMKs for lots of ATMs?
      TMK(TWK(PINBLOCK))

    5. Re:Tall on story, light on details by Fnord666 · · Score: 1

      Actually the terminal keys are distributed to the ATMs using public key cryptography these days. This alleviates the need to send techs onsite for a key load and to trust them with key components.
      The PIN blocks also include part of the card number XORed in prior to encryption. This prevents the creation of a code book for all 4 digit PINs under a specific working key. The same PIN on a different card will produce a different PIN block.

      --
      'The tyrant will always find pretext for his tyranny.' - Aesop's Fables
    6. Re:Tall on story, light on details by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why would you go to the trouble of breaking encryption on PINs and whatnot when you can just install a passthrough device between the keypad and the terminal to log all keystrokes? Combine that with a little device that grabs the card number as its swiped and you're set.

    7. Re:Tall on story, light on details by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Okay then - if the PIN really IS sent across a network, how do you explain this? http://www.barclays.co.uk/pinsentry/

  8. Server was breached in December.... by zonky · · Score: 5, Insightful

    yet only in June do they issue new pins? Nice.

    1. Re:Server was breached in December.... by autocracy · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The best comment I have to that is, "Think back to Fight Club."

      The cost of the lawsuits versus the cost of the recall just isn't enough, so a few soccer moms can burn. I do have to say, though, I'm way more comfy with a bank saying, "Ehh, we'll lose the money in customer's accounts," provided the bank is the one that takes the loss.

      --
      SIG: HUP
    2. Re:Server was breached in December.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I was affected by this (didn't have money stolen though, thank $Deity$, and I was informed about this sometime in February. I was automatically sent a new card and given instructions to follow other security measures.
      I am surprise to see a story about this now on Slashdot though.

  9. Bad Summary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

    Hacker != Criminal

  10. And of course Citibank .... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    plays the innocent victim and whenever Congress tries to pass legislation to protect the consumer from this incompetence, Citi has their K-St. goons to lobby one of the most corrupt Congresses in history.

    Oh, you don't have to take bribes to be corrupt for those you who think you have to accept hard money to be a crook.

  11. I was hoping... by Lester67 · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...that with the U.S. Dollar in the shitter, the Russians would start picking on someone else.

    1. Re:I was hoping... by phobos13013 · · Score: 1

      No. You must not have mercy on a failing opponent. You have to go for the kill to win. Otherwise they come back bigger and stronger than before.

      --
      ...and it should be known by now
    2. Re:I was hoping... by east+coast · · Score: 2, Funny

      My good friend,

      My late uncle, a wealthy American senator, had a large bank account in the United States. I currently can not remove the funds due to a legal dispute but an outside source such as yourself may be able to help me. I will let you have the majority of his 23 million dollar bankroll if you simply transfer the funds into your Russian account until I can leave the country. All I need from you is $5000 transfered into my account for verification of your account and processing and legal fees...

      --
      Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
    3. Re:I was hoping... by ya+really · · Score: 1

      US dollar is still stronger than the Ruble. It has a long ways to go still to as bad as it.

  12. Reiser lol by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    yes I designed the Higher Standards html and I went to jail too?

  13. What is a "bank" again? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Oh yeah...a bank is where poor people keep their money...

  14. Niko! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Here I was, thinking Grand Theft Auto IV was a game and all. But I was actually *really* stealing the money! Now I feel bad for shooting the hooker and then burning her in a 10-car inferno. Really bad.

  15. Citibank by whisper_jeff · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Ok, I'm Canadian so I could be very wrong, but it certainly seems that Citibank is regularly the target of hackers/phishers/scammers. I often get emails from Citibank asking me to update my account information (obviously, I don't have an account...) but other banks seem to be subject to similar attacks far less often. Were I American, methinks I'd be picking just about any bank other than Citibank...

    1. Re:Citibank by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      methinks I'd be picking just about any bank other than Citibank...

      I have a student loan through Citibank and can say with absolute certainty that they are an evil organization that doesn't give a shit about their customers.

      They are a horrible business, and it shows in the 10% stock hit they took today. To all the "C" investors out there... sell now. The company is going the way of Nationwide and Bear Sterns towards a buyout at a much lower value than they are at today.

    2. Re:Citibank by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ok, I'm Canadian so I could be very wrong, but it certainly seems that Citibank is regularly the target of hackers/phishers/scammers. ... Were I American, methinks I'd be picking just about any bank other than Citibank... So let me get this strait: you would change your business decisions based on the contents of unsolicited email?


      You sir, are repugnant. A pox on the internet, and the reason we can't have nice, spam-free, things. Die. </glaring hatefully>

    3. Re:Citibank by Arccot · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Ok, I'm Canadian so I could be very wrong, but it certainly seems that Citibank is regularly the target of hackers/phishers/scammers. I often get emails from Citibank asking me to update my account information (obviously, I don't have an account...) but other banks seem to be subject to similar attacks far less often. Were I American, methinks I'd be picking just about any bank other than Citibank... It's just because they're huge, they get targeted more often. It's the same problem with Chase Bank.

      But yes, using a smaller bank would help, even if it is possibly less convenient.
    4. Re:Citibank by Evro · · Score: 1

      Firstly, what you mentioned is not an attack on Citibank, it's an attack on you with the phishers playing the odds that you're a Citibank customer, and dumb enough to fall for it. Secondly, this is a factor of Citibank's being the world's largest bank, thus the scumbags have the greatest odds of the first condition being true.

      --
      rooooar
    5. Re:Citibank by ya+really · · Score: 1

      Criminals do pick on certain banks by vulnerabilities (not just because they're the largest) and Citi has had plenty of them in the past 6-8 years.

  16. Something's Off by raijinsetsu · · Score: 1

    These figures seem off. Numbers: they stole over 2 million (you have to assume it's less than 2.5, or they would have said 3 mill); two out of the 10 had $800k on hand each (total $1.6m); 70% of the cash had been transferred to Russia. (30%)(1.6m) + (70%)(X) = (100%)(Y2.5)... Somethings not right (could be me).

    1. Re:Something's Off by rayzat · · Score: 1

      I was thinking the same thing and I re-read it. I think the newly arrested individuals stole over 2 mil, the whole organization has probably stolen quite a bit more.

    2. Re:Something's Off by gnick · · Score: 1

      I think the summary just misspoke a little. It says that they were each caught with $800k but, if you assume that $800k was the total between the two, it works out to ~$2.7M with ~$1.9M going to Russia.

      --
      He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
    3. Re:Something's Off by raijinsetsu · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately, I think that if it were ~2.7m they would have said "almost 3 million". After all, they're going for sensationalism. Doesn't mean it's wrong though.

    4. Re:Something's Off by Sechr+Nibw · · Score: 1
      Quote from the first article:

      In late February, and early March, officials arrested two Brooklyn men and charged them with stealing some $2 million from ATMs from late 2007 until their arrest. When federal agents raided the home of one of the men, 32-year-old Yuriy Ryabinin, they found $800,000 in cash -- of which $690,000 was in garbage bags, shopping bags and boxes stashed in the bedroom closet. His co-defendant, 30-year-old Ivan Biltse, had another $800,000 in cash. Added bold to stress the fact that each had 800k.
    5. Re:Something's Off by gnick · · Score: 1

      You know, reading the article really takes the fun out of wildly speculating based on the summary. Did you really need to ruin it for us?

      --
      He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
  17. My favorite part... by InlawBiker · · Score: 4, Insightful

    From the article: "...What's more, neither Citibank nor the third-party transaction processor involved in the breach has warned consumers to watch for fraudulent withdrawals, raising questions about the disclosure policies in the financial industry. Citibank spokesman Robert Julavits says the bank "has complied with all applicable notification requirements."

    But according to the Payment Card Industry's own rules and the disclosure laws of NY, in the event of a breach the company must follow these rules:

    * Notification: Most expedient time possible, without unreasonable delay

    * Civil or criminal penalty for failure to promptly disclose

    So in other words they were more than happy to keep this secret to themselves.

    1. Re:My favorite part... by nine-times · · Score: 1

      Sure, why do they care? It's not their money.

    2. Re:My favorite part... by bryce4president · · Score: 1

      Citibank has been run like shit for years. Hence the reason why I dumped their asses a couple months back. I got tired of their shit. Not to mention that before this happened, I had been notified by them at least twice that I could be at risk of having my identity stolen. I've never had those problems with my credit union or any other company I deal with.

    3. Re:My favorite part... by Sechr+Nibw · · Score: 2, Insightful

      That wasn't Citibank notifying you of potential identity theft - that was a potential thief.

    4. Re:My favorite part... by bryce4president · · Score: 1

      So Citibank is the potential thief? Is that why they referred me to the credit bureaus? It was legit. I was offered a year of free credit monitoring. I just had to notify the credit bureau with my special code from Citi so that I wouldn't be charged.

      Once again, your statement wasn't Insightful, you could have meant it as Funny, but if you were serious, then you have no idea what you are talking about.

    5. Re:My favorite part... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bzzzzz... Incorrect answer, you loose.

      The correct answer was: "During a law-enforcement investigation, and while the FBI ask you to keep the ATM's open to the scam you do not have to report this to your customers".

      I read the .PDF of the affidavit few days ago. They asked Citibank to keep the ATMs open and the accounts active, so while this was happening, Citibank could not contact their customers. In addition, Citibank has stated that they were not breached, but the FBI agent swears in the affidavit that they were breached. My guess is that it was a third party to Citibank.

  18. Re:Fixed. (Again) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    WOOSH! How some people even log on I'll never understand...

  19. Mine is more than 4 digits... maybe by PCM2 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I have a Bank of America ATM card that has a six-digit PIN. The really interesting thing, though -- which I discovered by accident -- is that on Bank of America ATMs you can simply enter the first four digits and then as many random digits as you want and the code works.

    In other words, say my PIN is 443672. I can enter 4436, 44367, or 4436987899979 and it will always work. This seems like a fairly serious security flaw, to me.

    I know what you're thinking: "Sounds like you really only have a 4-digit PIN." But no! On other kinds of machines, say at the supermarket, I always have to enter in all 6 digits accurately. It's only Bank of America ATM machines where this is true.

    In the past, I have thought about raising this issue with Bank of America, but I have no idea how to approach them such that I can speak to somebody clueful.

    --
    Breakfast served all day!
    1. Re:Mine is more than 4 digits... maybe by ShibaInu · · Score: 1

      I have a seven digit PIN on my Wells Fargo card. I like the longer length, but when I was in Spain, I couldn't use the card because Wells Fargo told me that European ATMs only take four digit pins. Is this still true? Four digits doesn't seem like much to me.

    2. Re:Mine is more than 4 digits... maybe by PCM2 · · Score: 1

      OK, you've actually hit on the thing that really bugs me. I was often told this, too. "European ATMs can only use 4-digit PINs." It's still in all the travel guidebooks. But in my experience it is absolutely, in no way true, having successfully used ATMs everywhere from Singapore to Norway with my 6-digit PIN.

      But wait! Having told you what I told you in the earlier post -- how do I know it's not true? Maybe it really is true, and my ATM card just has some "cheater" property that lets me get away with it?

      Europeans, chime in, please! Have you ever had an ATM card that had a PIN longer than 4 digits?

      --
      Breakfast served all day!
    3. Re:Mine is more than 4 digits... maybe by EvilIdler · · Score: 1

      Nope. Never. 4 digits all the way. Last time I asked for a new code, they sent me a new card and eventually the same old code, even!

      Online, the security gives the impression of being better. My current bank uses a stupid java app which in no way improves security, though.

    4. Re:Mine is more than 4 digits... maybe by Smauler · · Score: 1

      No.

      But seriously, four digits should be enough for anyone, anyway. In my day, we only had 2 digits. And no card! And no bank account! And no money!

    5. Re:Mine is more than 4 digits... maybe by Braino420 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      In the past, I have thought about raising this issue with Bank of America, but I have no idea how to approach them such that I can speak to somebody clueful.
      They could be doing it on purpose. The supermarket and stores aren't nearly safe, from BoA's standpoint, as the ATMs are. The ATMs have cameras and it is easy to cover your PIN. The supermarket has no cameras and people all around.
      --
      They call me the wookie man, I guess that's what I am
    6. Re:Mine is more than 4 digits... maybe by John3 · · Score: 1

      Citibank switched to 4 digit PIN's a few years ago and truncated the extra characters in their system. Customers can still enter more than four digit PIN's but the ATM only uses the first four digits you key in.

      --
      "We make our world significant by the courage of our questions and by the depth of our answers." Carl Sagan
    7. Re:Mine is more than 4 digits... maybe by ya+really · · Score: 1

      Most ATMs in general will hack off all digits after the 4th on cards. As for looking over someone's shoulder for a pin number, that's the least of your worries. Even if they read it, it's still pratically worthless without knowing the track data on the card. They can't very well figure out your cc number or expiration with just a pin. I am also pretty sure Bank of America is running Windows on their ATMs.

    8. Re:Mine is more than 4 digits... maybe by Rezonant · · Score: 1

      Here in Switzerland, you can choose from 4-6 digits, and all ATMs I've seen here have no problem with six digits.

    9. Re:Mine is more than 4 digits... maybe by NovaHorizon · · Score: 1

      try entering just a ton of numbers and see if it crashes from a buffer overflow.. If so.. switch banks...

    10. Re:Mine is more than 4 digits... maybe by Trailer+Trash · · Score: 1

      This is the same Bank of America that first downcases the merchant name (on my checking account statement) then upcases each letter that isn't preceded by another letter. So "Lowe's Home Improvement" is "Lowe'S Home Improvement". That's a really Mickey Mouse error for someone to make, and it worries me to think of those things I cannot see so obviously...

    11. Re:Mine is more than 4 digits... maybe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I like the longer length,


      Yeah, you do.
    12. Re:Mine is more than 4 digits... maybe by dajalas · · Score: 1

      1) Talk to the local media. Explain how terribly worried you are about your bank account.

      2) Then heads will roll. Enjoy the carnage.

      3) Profit from the videos.

    13. Re:Mine is more than 4 digits... maybe by spacefight · · Score: 1

      Sure, 6 digits PIN are common in my place and work all over Europe.

    14. Re:Mine is more than 4 digits... maybe by freedumb2000 · · Score: 1

      They can, however, take a baseball bat to your head once you are outside again. Actually, most crooks will just install fake card readers in front of the real one, which records the pin stripe, at an ATM and film the keys pressed on the keypad to gather the pin number.

  20. Hand in the cookie jar? by sandysnowbeard · · Score: 1

    The whole problem with stealing money is that it's rarely NOT economical for the robbed to come after you.

    It's not like you can steal a million dollars from a corporation that has hundreds of millions and they're not going to have the resources to track you down, cut you up, and feed your fun parts to the gimp.

  21. Re:Thats why... by sm62704 · · Score: 1

    The best gift cards in the US are green and have pictures of dead presidents on them.

    --
    mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
  22. Another step by geekoid · · Score: 1

    to no more online digital financial transactions.

    Considering how they did this, there is no security ID method that is actually secure.

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  23. Isn't PIN on the card? by wsanders · · Score: 1

    As far as I know, I still have to take my ATM card into the bank to change the PIN on it. So something is still encoded on the card, whether it's the PIN itself or another factor used in addition to the PIN to authenticate me.

    Assuming I still have to take my card in to change the PIN (I can't seem to find a place to do it online), this could serve as a 2nd line against a server hack. Hopefully.

    --
    Give a man a fish and you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish, and he'll say "WHERE'S MY FISH, YOU IDIOT?"
    1. Re:Isn't PIN on the card? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are two ways the processor handles PINs..
      1. The offset of the PIN is encoded in the track data (normally at the very end).
      2. Nothing about the PIN is on the track data and the use a PINBLOCK on the backside (stored).

      The PIN that is entered at an ATM is encrypted on the PED (PinPad) using 3DES (Triple DES) encryption.

      On the backside (a Security Module) will translate the PIN from one Working Key to a new Working Key, or it can confirm a PIN is correct.
      Some banks use an Offset that is stored in the track data. This offset tell the Security Module how to "change" the Natural PIN to the real PIN.
      Okay, a Natural PIN is the PIN that is created with NO offset. If you are given a PIN, then you have the Natural PIN, if you get to pick the PIN, but they have to have your card then you have a Natural PIN with an Offset. If you select your PIN or can change the PIN at an ATM, and the dont need the card to rewrite it, then the bank is using a PINBLOCK (a 16 char HEX) 0123456789ABCDEF example..

      The PIN is encrypted at the PED and should NEVER be decrypted anywhere on any link.. ONLY inside the Security Module and only for translation or PIN confirmation.

    2. Re:Isn't PIN on the card? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Citibank lets you change your PIN online.

    3. Re:Isn't PIN on the card? by ya+really · · Score: 1

      The pin is nowhere on the card, period, not in the US. Here is what is on the cardAs you can see, the pin is not listed. There is something called the PIN Verification Key Indicator and PIN Verification Value, but those are in the descretionary data, which means the bank has no obligation to put it on there if they choose not to. Aside from that, they are also not the pin itself and cannot be converted to it. The pin only comes into play when you type it in at the terminal.

    4. Re:Isn't PIN on the card? by Tyris · · Score: 1

      Different countries/systems/manufacturers use different systems. Most older systems (for EFTPOS but I assume ATM systems too) send the encrypted PIN/Card Number pair for authorisation (it actually happens at the end of the transaction with all the money request info etc).
      More modern systems (in particular because of new standards rolling in a lot of countries) do the authorisation on the spot and do not send the PIN.

    5. Re:Isn't PIN on the card? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The information on the card is enough to obtain the PIN. What, you think brute forcing a four digit number where the algorithm and desired output (PVV) is known is hard?

    6. Re:Isn't PIN on the card? by ya+really · · Score: 1

      Not exactly easy to brute force a number with 4^10 possiblities when an atm only gives a couple of tries before it locks the account. If it were really that simple, every crackhead with a skimmer would be doing it.

    7. Re:Isn't PIN on the card? by ya+really · · Score: 1

      10^4, typo

  24. Obligatory by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Obligatory:
    In Soviet Russia, ATM cards cash YOU!!!

  25. Depends on how you use biometrics by cheros · · Score: 4, Informative

    Disclaimer: I just joined the company that has dreamt up this stuff..

    For the use of biometrics to be safe you need the following conditions:

    1 - it must still be a combination of what you KNOW and what you have. The solution is to name the fingers, i.e. think of a word like "fox" and then give a character to each finger. Only you know which finger you have called "f", "o" and "x".
    2 - biometrics are yours. They have no place in a central database where anyone can make a mess by replacing or erasing them, and what isn't stored cannot be abused. Thus: using biometrics to replace PIN code is fine by me, provided it stays local to the device. In other words, the prints are a device/token enabler, not the actual method of authentication and/or authorisation. Oh, and the relevant storage area should not be accessible other than by the token comparator engine - export MUST be made verifiably impossble.
    3 - "detached" and fake fingerprints should be rejected. Solution: don't be a cheapskate when you build this stuff and use the best, RF based reader. Even if you make the fake prints conductive it's going to be VERY hard (we've tried).

    Biometrics are good because you can't forget them. But they're yours, and yours only.

    --
    Insert .sig here. Send no money now. Owner may sue, contents will settle. Batteries not included.
    1. Re:Depends on how you use biometrics by maxume · · Score: 1

      How do you verify that export is impossible without knowing what attacks someone else might dream up?

      I'm sure it is easy to make it rather difficult.

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    2. Re:Depends on how you use biometrics by geekoid · · Score: 1

      And when they get compromised you have no way to identify yourself anymore.

      Not to mention, if you didn't store pins centrally, this wouldn't be a problem.

      Not stroing them centrally depends on having the identity on the card, and then after swiped a comparison is done between the PIN and the PIN on the card.

      However the logistics to set this up is a nightmare.

      Even after all that, I can think of attacks to compromise this security.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    3. Re:Depends on how you use biometrics by NovaHorizon · · Score: 1

      . 3 - "detached" and fake fingerprints should be rejected. Solution: don't be a cheapskate when you build this stuff and use the best, RF based reader. Even if you make the fake prints conductive it's going to be VERY hard (we've tried).

      Don't you watch myth busters? The cheapest scanner they bought was the hardest one to beat with the fake prints.. and wouldn't a detached finger still be real enough to.. at most shove a 9volt battery into the end of, and warm it in your hand to make it get past any RF scanner? (Don't know if electricity is needed for the RF, but you said conductive.. so thought I'd check) Did you do your testing involving someone who had already signed his body off to science, and registered into the device while alive? You know.. so you can chop off his finger once he dies..
    4. Re:Depends on how you use biometrics by cdrguru · · Score: 1

      Once you put the PIN on the card, then all that is needed is the card.

    5. Re:Depends on how you use biometrics by cheros · · Score: 1

      How do you verify that export is impossible without knowing what attacks someone else might dream up?

      1 - there isn't a shred of OS and code in there that isn't ours (and that gets independent checks)
      2 - the code is loaded into an EAL/CC 4+ rated chip
      3 - the factory cannot change the code without multiple hashes and checksums falling over. If we don't see the correct AES256 certs it ain't gonna work at all.
      4 - any attempt to "encourage" the introduction of such a backdoor would require the corraboration of the whole team - I can't see that happen (partly because we have about 4 bytes left :-).

      I agree with you that in *principle* nothing is impossible, in practice I'd be interested to see someone trying to dig a hole in it. I precisely joined that company because they took care to think about those things - I've had plenty of gadgets in my hand that promised but didn't deliver..

      --
      Insert .sig here. Send no money now. Owner may sue, contents will settle. Batteries not included.
    6. Re:Depends on how you use biometrics by cheros · · Score: 1

      I like the assumption that a company would bring out something that is based on fingerprinting (i.e. going somewhat against the current feelings about biometrics) without doing the most rigorous tests possible . OTOH, you're right, I don't think we've tried a chopped off finger yet but AFAIK (I'm not the expert on this) that is possible to emulate. I don't think we'll find volunteers..

      Also remember that a mythbusters episode has a date - new developments appear all the time. This reader is the latest high grade (most devices use far cheaper swipe readers to keep costs down). Maybe worth getting mythbusters to break it ..

      --
      Insert .sig here. Send no money now. Owner may sue, contents will settle. Batteries not included.
    7. Re:Depends on how you use biometrics by cheros · · Score: 1

      Why would you need a PIN if you can receive a full double AES256 cert authenticated message on a device which then instructs it to generate a PIN locally (actually a one time password, OTP) from a codebook? That's why the fingerprints are there - people forget a PIN they haven't used in a month.

      It means:

      1 - you KNOW who asked for the PIN - it's not going to work with the wrong origin cert
      2 - you KNOW only the right device/person can read the message and nobody else
      3 - the reply will not make sense to anyone but those who have the code book details. So even if you sniff the data it won't mean anything to you.

      Oh, and the way this thing works the security of the intermediate chain is irrelevant - that was the whole idea. I can get a secure message to the token (and on its graphical display) using the most virus infested and monitored PC available. Given the talents of most end users to keep their systems safe you can only start planning any e-service with the assumption that the end user PC is compromised. You could call it a trusted display. And it does not need a physical connection to the PC (removing another path by which a fingerprint could be made to escape if the token was somehow cracked).

      --
      Insert .sig here. Send no money now. Owner may sue, contents will settle. Batteries not included.
  26. Glad to know our partners are secure... by Bomarc · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Whew, I'm glad to know that our business partners are secure. Our business just decided to use "Citi", and they have assured us that they are secure. Oh - wait, isn't Citi the same as "CitiBank"?

    On the more serious side: They insist on using REAL customer data for testing, their test systems are not in sync with production, their test practices are VERY bad....

    It comes as no surprise that they've had a break-in.

  27. The honorable Judge Whitey presiding. by attemptedgoalie · · Score: 1

    Futurama is such a wonderful show.

    --
    My mom says I'm cool.
  28. Identity Monitor by T3Tech · · Score: 1

    This would never had happened if only all those customers had used Citibank's Identity Monitor protection service

    --
    Of course I didn't RTFA... why would I do that? You really are new here aren't you? Don't let my UID fool you.
  29. Citibank is not the only bank recently. by gblackwo · · Score: 1

    I do my banking with 1st Source Bank, They just recently replaced my debit/atm card for the same exact reason. Their database had been compromised by hackers. The hackers had all the account information along with social security numbers and names. I was assured that they were not likely to be using the information for identity theft. What do you think?

  30. Re:Thats why... by statemachine · · Score: 2, Funny

    You keep the ones with the dead presidents. I'll keep the others. I'll only insist on having the same number, to be fair. Deal?

  31. Re:Fixed. (Again) by MightyYar · · Score: 1

    You've got mail!

    --
    W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
  32. I'm a Citibank customer by drusifer2 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'm a Citibank customer here in New York and I am one of those who is getting their card reissued. Citibank did notify me of the breach through one of those alerts on their web site but the alert was several months after the breach was discovered (I got it on June 3rd to be precise). They didn't specifically mention the date of the incidents and I have no good way of validating all the charges to my ATM card. Pouring over several months of statements is not easy when you don't know what you are looking for.

    In the alert they claim that a third party ATM network was breached but they didn't say which company's ATMs where hit. I even called and tried to find out but they wouldn't/couldn't tell me. The customer support person just kept saying "Sir, Your card was breached" as if the problem was with my ATM card. Here in NY there are tons of independent ATMs around which charge anywhere from $1-$3 for withdrawal (Maybe they could use some of those fees for security). If I knew which one f'ed up I would spend my withdrawal fees elsewhere.

    Citi also botched sending me a new card twice so now they've disabled my old card and have yet to send me a new one. I guess I don't have to worry about those pesky fees for a while.

    1. Re:I'm a Citibank customer by Sponge+Bath · · Score: 1

      Pouring over several months of statements is not easy when you don't know what you are looking for.

      It is worth reducing the total number of ATM transactions you make and using cash for the numerous small transactions. That makes it easier to reconcile and verify these transactions. Keep every ATM receipt and go over every detail in Quicken.

      Extend this to every transaction (CC, ATM, Check, bills) and account for every last penny once a week. This helps to catch the other crooks like phone companies, ISPs, power companies, CC companies and all the other corporate entities that seem to continuously make 'mistakes' that are always in their favor.

      It sounds like a pain, but the peace of mind it gives is great.

    2. Re:I'm a Citibank customer by Red+Flayer · · Score: 1

      They didn't specifically mention the date of the incidents and I have no good way of validating all the charges to my ATM card. Pouring over several months of statements is not easy when you don't know what you are looking for.
      Why are you not reconciling your bank accounts (~balancing your checkbook) every month? They send you a statement every month...

      Even if you don't want to make an entry into your register every time you go to the ATM, it's simple enough to spike your withdrawal receipts (and purchase receipts) on one of those spike-on-a-block desk thingies every night when you get home. Then it's trivial to compare against your bank statement... and discover attempted fraud early, when it is still possible to do something about it.

      If I knew which one f'ed up I would spend my withdrawal fees elsewhere.
      Why not just go to a Citi ATM once a week and withdraw what you need? Then you don't pay withdrawal fees. Or, when you go grocery shopping, just get $100 cashback. No fees. [yeah, yeah, you're in the city -- you probably never go grocery shopping]

      I wonder what happened to basic fiscal responsibility -- it appears it's not limited to our elected officials.
      --
      "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
  33. Re:Fixed. (Again) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Good laugh (not related to the story, just the parent post:) http://www.thewebsiteisdown.com/salesguy.html

  34. Re:Thats why... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Cool, you can have the ones with dead presidents on them and I'll take all the 100s and 10s.

  35. With their rip off ATM's that's what they get. by XHIIHIIHX · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Forget why but I left citibank 15 years ago, I seem to remember they screwed me on some fee. Went to get some money for Poker last night, stopped by a citibank figuring to have to cough up $1.50 for the ATM fee. Bastards want !#$!@%$$3.00 ?? 3 Bucks? I grabbed about 1,000 of those stupid deposit envelopes and trashed 'em on the way out, I think we're about even.

  36. If you're a Citibank customer by Solandri · · Score: 4, Informative
    And wondering if you're affected, the compromised PINs seem to have been used at ATMs in 7-Eleven stores. Reposting here since the summary didn't mention it and it was buried near the end of the article.

    Citibank emphasizes that customers aren't responsible for fraudulent withdrawals. But the bank won't say how many consumers had their information stolen in the attack. Court documents suggest the breach is limited to those who made withdrawals during the period that the server was actively compromised. But the bank won't reveal what that period was.

    Also unclear is who was responsible for the server that was attacked, and why PIN codes, which are supposed to be transmitted only in encrypted form, were vulnerable. An FBI affidavit in the case blames a Citibank-owned server responsible for processing transactions from 7-Eleven convenience stores. But Citibank blames an unnamed "third party" transaction processing firm.

    1. Re:If you're a Citibank customer by PCM2 · · Score: 1

      And wondering if you're affected, the compromised PINs seem to have been used at ATMs in 7-Eleven stores.

      Actually, it doesn't sound like the cards were used at 7-Elevens. It sounds like they scooped the PINs off a Citibank server that was used for processing transactions for 7-Eleven ATMs. A system was compromised somewhere along 7-Eleven's merchant transaction processing chain, not at the store locations themselves.

      --
      Breakfast served all day!
    2. Re:If you're a Citibank customer by dbcad7 · · Score: 1

      Citibank is light on locations in my area (Reno) and are in fact selling the accounts to Wells Fargo and shutting the branches down.. but 7-Elevens we have many of, and they are free of fees to use their ATM's for Citibank customers.. It kind of sucks that they did not give me a choice of maintaining an account with them without a local branch, as I never actually go to the bank anyway.. but I guess Wells will be ok.

      --
      waiting for ad.doubleclick.net
    3. Re:If you're a Citibank customer by erudified · · Score: 1

      Also unclear is who was responsible for the server that was attacked, and why PIN codes, which are supposed to be transmitted only in encrypted form, were vulnerable. An FBI affidavit in the case blames a Citibank-owned server responsible for processing transactions from 7-Eleven convenience stores.

      I've thought about this before. In rural areas, I've noticed that you can hear the ATMs dialing up to contact the bank servers... it seems like you could put a recording device on the line, then grab the device and decrypt it later at your leisure (linmodems seem like they could be useful for this, just pipe from /dev/dsp maybe?)

      Given this break, it seems kinda obvious that there isn't *extremely* strong encryption on the line, and can't 128-bit SSL be broken in realtime by commercially available devices nowadays? Hmm, brb, bugging 7-11.

  37. Re:Thats why... by Beardo+the+Bearded · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's why I moved all my purchasing from debit to credit.

    The dispute resolution for M/C is a lot easier:

    "I didn't buy this."

    "Okay, reversed."

    vs. the bank:

    "I didn't make that withdrawal."

    "Well, we'll have to review the security tapes, check your whereabouts, and in 12-16 months, we'll credit your account."

    Also, I get 1% cash back on the M/C. And no, I don't carry a balance.

    --

    ---
    ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.
  38. Re:Thats why... by LandDolphin · · Score: 1

    True. I'd much rather have $50 cash then a GC to only one store. GC's for you to either waste money, buy not spending up to the full amount, or spend your own money by going past the GC amount. At the end of the day, GC's suck.

    --
    Spelling and Grammar errors have been added to this post for your enjoyment
  39. The bigger question: Three Months!? by penguin_dance · · Score: 2, Insightful

    From the article:
    Three months had passed since Citibank notified the FBI that a hacker managed to steal customer-account numbers and PIN codes, in an attack on a server that processes transactions from Citi-branded ATMs at 7-Eleven convenience stores. In late February and early March, the FBI and the U.S. Secret Service arrested two Ukrainian immigrants and two alleged co-conspirators for allegedly using the stolen PINs to steal $2 million in cash from unsuspecting Citibank customers.

    Okay that answers the question on how they got the PINs. They didn't need the physical cards, they just hacked and got the bank account numbers with PINs. I'm going to guess that they let this go on to catch the bad guys, but THREE MONTHS? And obviously they weren't telling customers there had been a breach and that they should change their pin number.

    Maybe that's one solution...at least for those of us who know better. A way to be able to go in and change your pin number on a regular basis. But it doesn't matter if you have 4-digit pin or a 16-digit PIN if the bank is going to keep the Acct. number together with the PIN.

    I believe lawyers felt a shift in the Force.

    --
    If you've never been modded as "flamebait" or "troll," you've never tried to argue a minority viewpoint here!
  40. Diebold machines? by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 1

    Were these ATMs manufactured by Diebold? May be they left the superpassword meant to be used to steal elections in the bank ATMs by mistake? Or may be by design?

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  41. Hmm by mapkinase · · Score: 1

    $800,000/$500 day withdrawal limit = 1600 human-days. Isn't that too much?

    It might be that not only ATM were involved but also lax checking of the IDs at the counter.

    --
    I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
    1. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They probably used several cards a day, if not close to 100. Spread that around at the hundreds of ATMs in the metro area and they could have accumulated that amount in only a few months. I'm surprised they didn't pay bums or even further delegate the fraud to some other gang.

    2. Re:Hmm by smoker2 · · Score: 1

      They had more than 1 card number.

  42. Biometrics are not about secrecy by Beryllium+Sphere(tm) · · Score: 1

    >Fingerprints are a terrible idea because you leave a copy of your private key on everything you touch.

    A private key authenticates you because, and only because, you keep it secret. Fingerprints don't have to be secret. They authenticate you because they're attached to you. If someone replays your fingerprint or your voice, the security failure is not a secrecy breach but the fact that the biometric system is accepting a recording instead of an organism.

    The measures that keep biometrics secure are humans watching the reader being used to make sure nobody's holding up a photo of a retina or a severed finger, and to the extent they can work, technical measures to detect live bodies.

  43. The Solution by IMustBeNewHere · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The EMV-card.

    On this type of card, the magnetic strip is replaced by a microcontroller with various cryptographic features (aka smart card) that are supposed to secure transactions and make the card a PITA to clone.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMV

    It is a quite recent innovation. It was only standardized oh ... 9 years ago, and its backers - VISA and Mastercard - are relatively unknown companies.

    This is probably why many banks are wary about issuing EMV cards yet ... or that they are cheapskates. I'm not sure which.

    1. Re:The Solution by geekoid · · Score: 1

      They wouldn't have stopped this attack.
      And as far as cloning goes, only 1 person needs to figure it out, then everyone can do it. And yes, they can be cloned.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    2. Re:The Solution by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We've had these in the UK for about 2 years now. Known as "Chip and PIN" there was a fairly hefty advertising campaign about it too. I'd say practically 95% of retailers use these now and you provide your PIN instead of a signature when simply buying "groceries" or, as we Brits would say, "the shopping".
      I think that ATMs use these chips too but I'm no ATM expert. I suspect there are a few more ATMs in the US than here in the UK however.

    3. Re:The Solution by ya+really · · Score: 1

      They use those on most of the cards over in Europe I believe and that's also part of the reason why overseas criminals like to target America, we do not use them. Much easier to find exploits in ours than their's. Shop keepers are also much more proactive overseas in watching out for fraud. In the states, you get some 16 year old cashier who doesnt even own a credit card and could care less.

    4. Re:The Solution by danzilla · · Score: 1

      Its just cost benefit analysis for the banks.

      Upgrading smart card reader rollouts to their ATM network/Eftpos and issuing cards is probably going to cost more than just paying out on fraud refunds to their customers, so until the fraud on the current infrastructure rises to a level that makes it cheaper to implement improved security there isn't going to be an upgrade.

    5. Re:The Solution by Peeteriz · · Score: 1

      That would have stopped this attack. For EMV cards the PIN code wouldn't even be sent to the transaction processor, it would be validated by the card chip itself;
      So cracking the transaction servers would not work.

      Also, unlike mag-stripe card, the full transaction information is not enough to make a clone card - in order to make a clone chip-card, you would need to sign it's card number with the appropriate bank's private key, which also was not compromised in this case.

  44. Probably a backwards compatibility hack? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There are probably certain protocols that assume that PINs are always 4 digits and only trasmit that many.

    At least, that would be my guess--that it's some kind of backwards compatibility hack.

  45. Math? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If they stole 2 Million, and they found 2 suspects each with $800,000 (800,000 x 2 = 1,600,000) leaving 400,000 unaccounted for, (20% of 2,000,000) then how was 70% (1.4 million) sent to Russia? When they say "Stole OVER 2 million" it must have been a LOT over 2 million.

  46. Oh Jesus by commodoresloat · · Score: 1

    just STFU up.

  47. the guys were drunk too by commodoresloat · · Score: 1

    They were drinking out of big jugs with "XXX" on the side of them

  48. Re:Thats why... by encoderer · · Score: 5, Informative

    You're confusing two issues: An ATM Withdrawal and a Purchase.

    Any Debit Card with a Visa or MC logo carries fraud protection. They both require that funds be put back into your account within 5 business days, and many banks do it same-day, mine included. This includes provisions for overdrafts that happened because of the fraudulent deduction.

    In fact, on the Visa website, you'll see that the Debit Card page and the CC page both point to the same "Zero Liability" page.

    The Zero Liability policy covers all Visa credit and debit card transactions processed over the Visa networkâ"online or off. The only transactions not covered under the Zero Liability policy are commercial card, ATM, and non-Visa-branded PIN transactions.

    Of course, as I said, you confused 2 issues: Purchases and PIN-Based ATM withdrawals.

    If you take a cash advance from your CC at an ATM using your PIN, it won't be so simple as "okay, reversed." It's their policy that its your duty to keep your PIN secure and secret. And that applies equally to both Credit and Debit cards.

    Don't get me wrong -- I do the same thing you do. Every online purchase, and many offline, I use my Credit Card and pay it off when the statement comes. But I do it for the added benefits: Points, extra warranty on everything I buy, etc.

    And because I don't always check my bank balances every day. My bank has refunded fraudulent debit card purchases for me twice, and the money was back in my account within an hour or so, but I worry about the time that I don't check it for a couple days and the money isn't there when I need it. Sure, the bank will fix it promptly, but that doesn't help if I have a cart full of groceries.

    Not to mention, the worst thing that could happen if your CC is fraudmeistered is that you can't charge anything until it's fixed. There's a lot more headache involved if your checking acct was just drained.

    But I wouldn't worry about fraud response from banks. Visa and Mastercard are literally making BILLIONS off Americans using the debit cards in place of cash. They don't want to scare you off.

  49. Other scams by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Some of our users got hit on the business online banking accounts. They know the payroll systems as well. I've seen businesses cleaned out by wire transfer via payroll, we did start issues RSA tokens after that. All the doctors were using the same admin account so they had infighting on who actually got compromised.

    Some of them used to find a mule in a want ad or Craiglist and they buy a used sofa for buy ask to put 10k in your account you keep 1000 for the sofa and transfer the rest to a bank in Florida which in turn gets sent to Russia. Now they just don't care if they are even caught or not, by the time you do catch them it's too late.

    We got into the servers of the hackers and found 20 or so of our customers accounts, we are very small relative to other businesses. It's really unbelievable how much of our data that have.

  50. Re:Thats why... by EvanED · · Score: 1

    Any Debit Card with a Visa or MC logo carries fraud protection. They both require that funds be put back into your account within 5 business days, and many banks do it same-day, mine included.

    This is true only if you use your debit card like a credit card, rather than a debit card, right? (I.e. you give the cashier your signature rather than PIN.)

    You're right overall, but I just wanted to clarify that point (both for me, since I'm not positive, and others).

  51. My parents (presumably) got hit by these guys by theophilosophilus · · Score: 3, Informative

    My parents took out a Sears card about 5 years ago to get a deal on carpet and then put the card in the filing cabinet and left it. About 2 months ago they got a bill from Citibank stating that they purchased several thousand dollars of something in Paris. Turns out that Sears sold all their accounts off to Citibank. My father immediately called Citibank and they were absolute jerks. They couldn't understand that my Dad didn't even own a Citibank card (and had never been to Paris). Evidently, someone had gotten the number and activated the old Sears (now Citi) account. After several calls to the VERY rude customer support Dad simply drove to Citibank's fraud prevention unit which isn't very far from their home. Fraud prevention is run out of the Midwest and very helpful but the plain customer service people suck.

    Further, Citibank's fraud detection must be absolutely horrible. If this was the same security breach, Citi didn't know about it even in March. Further, one large random charge in a foreign country on a card that hasn't been used in 5 years should raise some warning flags. In stark contrast, about two weeks ago Wells Fargo discovered fraud on my card. Turns out someone had my number and was testing its validity with online purchases. The sad sad sad thing is that the transaction that they found odd was a $1 purchase of a weight lifting dietary supplement. I guess even Wells Fargo knows I'm a geek.

    --
    Why have 1 person driving a backhoe when you could employ 20 with shovels?
    1. Re:My parents (presumably) got hit by these guys by Renraku · · Score: 1

      Actually what probably happened was that whoever found (more like, bought with a database) the number/pass/etc of yours has either set up the site themselves or were working for people that did..and that site was just a front for these operations. The bank had that list in the database and knew to mark all transactions from this site for review.

      For example, I was in the market for a digital camera around Christmas. I saw a site that was listed as hundreds below retail for the camera..everything on the site looked legit except for the price. So I googled it. Turns out they wouldn't ship you a camera unless you spent over $1,000 on their site on 'extras' for the camera which always turned out to be el cheapo fakes.

      Also in the stories, I found, that the company would then give your information away and it would start being charged in random places in the country or even the world..so there were later stories about how someone just bought something and immediately received a call from their bank asking if they had purchased something from the site willingly.

      I can't remember the name of the site, but they were selling the XTi plus lens, MP4 player, memory card, etc, for $350. The retail price of the XTi at the time was around $800 for body and lens...

      --
      Job? I don't have time to get a job! Who will sit around and bitch about being broke and unemployed then?
  52. What... no citibank commercial quotes? by mark-t · · Score: 1

    Does anyone else find it incredibly ironic that a financial institution that so strongly marketed themselves as offering effective identity theft solutions should have this happen to them?

    1. Re:What... no citibank commercial quotes? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative
      I've done consultancy work for Citibank as an external contractor working on security for some of their internal systems.

      My experience of them is that they will cut as many corners as possible in order to save money & that their internal people are very good at passing the buck to someone else.

      It's not "sour grapes" on my part either - I walked away from them in the end because they were a nightmare to work with & have never looked back.

  53. Re:Thats why... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You keep the ones with the dead presidents. I'll keep the others. I'll only insist on having the same number, to be fair. Deal?

    You're clever--Franklin was never president. I did that report in 2nd grade, too.
  54. Re:Fixed, Fixed by mcsporran · · Score: 1

    They ran the BERT test on the ATM machines to verify the PIN numbers at 6AM in the morning.

    --
    This is NOT a signature.
  55. Citibank, PCI-DSS by DillyP · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Correct me if I am wrong, but Citibank is not necessarily the company to be blaming for the breach... the article states that the actual source of the breach is unknown. Although, it would be quite ironic if the breach did occur on a Citibank server/database considering that the credit card companies drive the PCI-DSS standards that are supposed to be in place to avoid these breaches. The source of the breach obviously didn't meet the PCI compliancy requirements if the hackers had the PIN numbers (and the rest of the information) which is supposed to be encrypted.

    1. Re:Citibank, PCI-DSS by ToasterMonkey · · Score: 1

      PCI-DSS isn't bulletproof, it's just some security guidelines the payment card industry must follow.

      The source of the breach obviously didn't meet the PCI compliancy requirements if the hackers had the PIN numbers (and the rest of the information) which is supposed to be encrypted.

      You don't know this. The DSS doesn't go into great details of how to properly implement the systems that keep your pin encrypted or secured from the keys on an ATM all the way to your bank's database. The crypto systems involved in this are complex and are certainly able to be compromised if not managed well.

      This could very, very, very likely have been an inside job. Either that or whoever was managing these ATMs was using some very nonstandard equipment. Or both? Only the FBI and the hackers know at this point :\

    2. Re:Citibank, PCI-DSS by DeanFox · · Score: 1

      Correct me if I am wrong, but Citibank is not necessarily the company to be blaming for the breach...

      How about the account information originated from Citibank? Perhaps the blame is unfair if they have to provide account information to insecure entities to make the cards work. Nevertheless, if it's not breach direct from Citibank servers then Citibank released sensitive account information to insecure third parties. There's blame in that. Allowing Citibank or others to pass this off to third parties negates the source of the problem. As in blaming the runny nose instead of the cold.

      Recently I received a marketing email for third party banking related services and sometimes snail mail offers too from third parties. I called my Credit Union and berated them for 10 minutes to never, never give out my account information again. They said, but we didn't give out 'xxx' or 'yyy'. I told them that the fact I even have an account with them is my personal information in a how dare they tone of voice. I'm trying to do my part to get it through to these people sharing my personal information is not okay.

      YMMV

      -[d]-

  56. Re:Thats why... by encoderer · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Yes, that's how I read it, anyway. My understanding is that Visa doesn't make much money from PIN transactions, so they don't guarantee them. Goes back to the "Your PIN is your Responsibility" schtick.

    Of course, I see more and more stores that actually give me an incentive to pay using a PIN-based transaction. The Jewel supermarkets around here give you 1% off your bill. I imagine that's because they're paying more than 1% to Visa when you sign. I can't imagine any other reason that they'd give you that much off!

  57. Re:Thats why... by EvanED · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Yeah, that's the case. I don't think the CC companies make any money for PIN-based transactions, though I could be wrong. And they charge something like 3% or so (again, could be wrong) for CC transactions, both on debit and real credit cards.

    So the 1% off or whatever makes sense from their perspective. The grocery store I do my big shopping trips at (because they have the cheapest prices) don't accept credit cards at all; I suspect this is why.

  58. But... But... by camperdave · · Score: 1

    (BTW, presumably if you had some permanent change like the cataract you would just go into your bank and get a new scan, or have them disable the authentication, so saying you would be locked out forever is being alarmist.)

    Of course it's alarmist. I was going for a +5 Alarmist mod. I haven't gotten one of those yet. :-) Yes, obviously you could get a new scan done. It's just one of those things you think of just after clicking submit.

    --
    When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
  59. Re:Thats why... by Torvaun · · Score: 1

    Neither was Hamilton.

    --
    I see your informative link, and raise you a pithy comment.
  60. Re:Thats why... by statemachine · · Score: 1

    I suppose you're trying to give a backhanded compliment. But if you needed to do a report on Franklin to figure out that he wasn't a president, I feel sorry for you. Your classmates must have been laughing at you.

    The whole notion of greenbacks being referred to as "dead presidents" is somewhat new. I just thought of them as important historical people, many of whom had been President. It's a sad state of ignorance. FFS, it's not like it's the $1 bill, it's the highest denomination in circulation! And then there's the $10 bill... You'd think people never paid attention in class or held these denominations.

    My point is it's a stupid saying because it's wrong on the most important part.

    Have all the Washingtons you can carry.

  61. Re:Thats why... by curunir · · Score: 1

    Nor Salmon P Chase, for that matter...though I doubt anyone reading this would have ever seen a $10,000 bill.

    --
    "Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos!"
  62. I was the victim by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I am really pissed. So Citibank knew that customer's information was stolen and did do anything about it.

    Guess what? I was one of the people who got the money stolen from my account. Since my bank account was connected to Citibank credit card, they also did cash advance.

    What pissed me off is that they made me send a bunch of documentation to prove that it wasn't me. And they knew it wasn't me.

    BTW - the branch they mentioned ( upper east side ) is one of the location the crooks took $ from me.

    Citibank could have just told everyone to change their pin number and this could have all avoided.

    BTW - Citibank daily limit of ATM transaction in NYC is $2,000 - kinda crazy. They are able to take $4,000 with just two transactions.

    Also, I recommend people to call credit card company and ask to remove any cash advance feature. Citibank credit card was able to do it but Chase was not. So bye-bye chase.

    BTW - who saves the password(pin) number plain-text...

  63. Re:Thats why i use a Credit Union... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


    All of the transactions I permit, require that I have to be there in person to authorise them.

    Any that come in on spec, get checked first, and passed to the fraud squad when necessary.

    ___________________
    Sig. Measure Twice

  64. Seventy percent, eh? by OldMiner · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Let me see here:

    When they raided Ryabinin's home, agents found...$800,000 in cash...Biltse was also found with $800,000 in cash.

    $2 million * .7 = $1.4 million. $2 million - $1.4 million = $600,000. And yet there was $1.6 million recovered in cash? Either they were welching on their 70% deal, were very slow to shipping that money back, or there was more like $5.3 million stolen by just these two. I suppose they could only pin on them the $2 million they had direct evidence for.

    But if the two suckers who got caught took Citibank for at least $5 million, what do you suppose the clever ones who didn't get caught walked away with?

    --
    You like splinters in your crotch? -Jon Caldara
  65. Re:Thats why... by OAB_X · · Score: 1

    You're confusing two issues: An ATM Withdrawal and a Purchase.

    Any Debit Card with a Visa or MC logo carries fraud protection. They both require that funds be put back into your account within 5 business days, and many banks do it same-day, mine included. This includes provisions for overdrafts that happened because of the fraudulent deduction.

    That is under the assumption that your debit card is a "visa debit" or a "Mastercard Debit" card.

    In Canada, there is an entirely separate network (Interac) that is run basically by the big-5 banks, entirely unrelated to Visa/Mastercard (except that all the ATM's take PLUS and Maestro, but that's unrelated). Therefore, none of the Visa/Mastercard "Zero-Liability" policies apply.

    However, the banks are generally fairly good. I've known people who have received calls from their bank saying "you used your debit card at an area that has reported fraud, please change your pin and double-check your account transaction history at one of our branded ATMs ASAP"

  66. Re:Thats why i use a Credit Union... by OAB_X · · Score: 1

    Credit Union, the most inconvenient form of banking beyond hiding something under your mattress. A throwback to 60's banking before ATMs were first rolled out in the 70's.

    Fortunately, credit unions that don't suck have hookups to the ATM networks in whatever country you live in, either through PLUS or a Visa/Mastercard debit card of some type.

  67. These are crackers not hackers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    These are crackers not hackers

  68. Re:Thats why... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sure, the bank will fix it promptly, but that doesn't help if I have a cart full of groceries.

    Which is why you carry a second card as a backup. You never have to use it, but it can save a lot of time and/or embarrassment if anything happens about your primary card.

    Some situations are really ridiculous. Many many years back, my wife took care of paying all the bills. One day, I happened to see the MC bill on the table. I took a quick look at it and saw we had $250 outstanding on it. The credit limit shown was $2000 (I said it was a long time ago). But the "available credit" box said $0.00. I thought that was odd, but paid no further attention to it.

    The following weekend, we went out to get some tile for a small job. The card was rejected for a $100 purchase. We were told we'd have to call MC on Monday to find out the reason.

    At this point, the store manager came by to see what was up. After hearing the story, he asked th clerk how much the tile cost -- $50. Then he sked how much the supplies cost -- $50. So he told the clerk to ring up and charge for the tile. Then to do the same for the supplies. It turned out they didn't have to get an auth number for anything less than $75.

    On Monday, it turned out that MC had shut off our credit "for erratic payment". They didn't like the way my wife sometimes paid fairly early and occasionally a little late. This was before they discovered what a gold mine there was in "late fees". So they left our limit in place, but shut off access to it, all without a phone call or any other notification.

    Stupid jerks. It would have been real fun if we'd been in a restaurant where the manager didn't know he could just charge the meal as two or more transactions.

  69. For men, there IS a solution by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The pattern on your bell end is unique. As unique as your fingerprints.

    And unless you're seriously weird, you don't leave that print everywhere you go.

    So whip the old man out and plonk it on the ATM!

    FTW!

  70. Maybe that's why they're cooperating by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    because they've bilked the russian mafia and all that was needed for the mafia to prove it is the statement of how much was taken.

    They can do the maths.

    They can hire hitmen.

  71. Re:Thats why... by phexitol · · Score: 1

    Not to mention that they expire, and some even devalue over time until their expiration.

  72. Re:Thats why... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It is actually 10 business days that they have to give you provisional credit. This is under the EFTA (Electronic Funds Transfer Agreement) and regulation E. Just keep an eye on your checking account everyday and you will know when your card is comprised if you can change your pin more often.

  73. Re:Fixed. (Again) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Redundant? How does 4.22 PM come after 9.08 PM of the same day?

  74. Re:Thats why... by encoderer · · Score: 1

    And you know... it's just been in the past couple years that I basically stopped carrying any cash. I usually keep about $20 or so tucked into the console in my car, but that's it.

    I do it to maximize my "points," simplify budgeting, and really just because it's easier.

    But god DAMN I hate the fact that I'm making banks so much $$.

    Banks are crooks who make their scratch on the backs of the little guy. less than $200 in your account? Monthly Fee. Overdraft on a debit-card purchase that THEY LET GO THROUGH? $35 fee. Etc.

    Generally, my motto is "Your money is like your vote, only give it to somebody you want to have it." That's why I never shop at Wal Mart, Blockbuster, etc.

    But there's just no alternative for this. Even Credit Unions are only slightly better, and they're still making Visa and MC rich.

    If the US Banking System could be reformed (which it probably can't), we'd all be so much better for it.

  75. acquired 3rd party ATM network by peter303 · · Score: 1

    Which had used older technology which was compromised. It was a network inside 7-11s which isnt know as a bastion of integrity.

  76. Re:Thats why... by sm62704 · · Score: 1

    IINM it started with the Willie Dixon song Dead Presidents that was later covered more popularly by Little Walter and even later by the J. Geils Band .

    Them dead presidents
    Them dead presidents
    Well I ain't broke but I'm bad bent
    Everybody loves them dead presidents

    A little bit of Lincoln can't park the car
    Washington he can't go too far
    Jefferson is good, played the track
    If you think you're gonna bring some big bitch back

    Them dead presidents
    Them dead presidents
    Well I ain't broke but I'm bad bent
    Everybody loves them dead presidents

    Hamilton on a ten can get you straight
    But Jackson on a twenty is really great
    And if you're talkin' about a poor man's friend
    Grant will get you out of whatever you're in

    Them dead presidents
    Them dead presidents
    Them dead presidents
    Well I ain't broke but I'm badly bent
    Everybody loves them dead presidents

    A hundred dollar Franklin is really sweet
    A five hundred McKinley is the one for me
    If I get a Cleveland, I'm really set
    A thousand dollar Cleveland is hard to get

    Them dead presidents
    Them dead presidents
    Well I ain't broke but I'm badly bent
    Everybody loves them dead presidents

    --
    mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
  77. Re:Thats why... by sm62704 · · Score: 1

    The "expired" (ahem) presidents devalue over time, too. Washington would get you a gallon of gasoline here in Springfield when Bush took office, bow it takes four of them. In 1968 when I started driving, Washington would buy you over a quarter tank of the stuff.

    --
    mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
  78. 3rd party ATM network hack .. ? by rs232 · · Score: 1

    "Which had used older technology which was compromised. It was a network inside 7-11s which isnt know as a bastion of integrity"

    What was the name of the 3rd party and do you have citations to any first hand reports as to exactly how the hack was achieved?

    --
    davecb5620@gmail.com
  79. Citibank and phishers .. by rs232 · · Score: 1

    "Citibank is regularly the target of hackers/phishers"

    Except in this case the servers got hacked ..

    "a hacker managed to steal customer-account numbers and PIN codes, in an attack on a server that processes transactions from Citi-branded ATMs"

    --
    davecb5620@gmail.com
  80. er .. NO .. not exactly ... by rs232 · · Score: 1

    "the compromised PINs seem to have been used at ATMs in 7-Eleven stores"

    The PINs were stolen "in an attack on a server that processes transactions from Citi-branded ATMs at 7-Eleven"

    --
    davecb5620@gmail.com
  81. Clu Gulager Alert by HTH+NE1 · · Score: 1

    They use magstripe writers to encode the stolen account numbers onto blank cards, then hit ATMs in New York

    Someone has been watching the movie Prime Risk (currently available only as a German-only Region 2 PAL full-screen DVD).

    Cop: You know, you shouldn't write your pin number on the back of your card like this. If you lose it and someone finds it they can rob you blind.

    Julie: I thought you said you knew how to fly!
    Michael: I do know how to fly!
    [pause]
    Michael: It's just landing I've never done before.
    Julie: Oh, shit.

    --
    Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
  82. With only 10,000 possible PINs... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Lets see... 10 possible combinations per digit, 4 digits = 10^4 = 10,000 possible PINs...

    Even if you only had the hash, it would take an incredibly small amount of time to compare it to the hash!