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First 'Jackpotting' Attacks Hit US ATMs (krebsonsecurity.com)
Brian Krebs, reporting for Krebs on Security: ATM "jackpotting" -- a sophisticated crime in which thieves install malicious software and/or hardware at ATMs that forces the machines to spit out huge volumes of cash on demand -- has long been a threat for banks in Europe and Asia, yet these attacks somehow have eluded U.S. ATM operators. But all that changed this week after the U.S. Secret Service quietly began warning financial institutions that jackpotting attacks have now been spotted targeting cash machines here in the United States.
To carry out a jackpotting attack, thieves first must gain physical access to the cash machine. From there they can use malware or specialized electronics -- often a combination of both -- to control the operations of the ATM. On Jan. 21, 2018, KrebsOnSecurity began hearing rumblings about jackpotting attacks, also known as "logical attacks," hitting U.S. ATM operators. I quickly reached out to ATM giant NCR Corp. to see if they'd heard anything. NCR said at the time it had received unconfirmed reports, but nothing solid yet.
To carry out a jackpotting attack, thieves first must gain physical access to the cash machine. From there they can use malware or specialized electronics -- often a combination of both -- to control the operations of the ATM. On Jan. 21, 2018, KrebsOnSecurity began hearing rumblings about jackpotting attacks, also known as "logical attacks," hitting U.S. ATM operators. I quickly reached out to ATM giant NCR Corp. to see if they'd heard anything. NCR said at the time it had received unconfirmed reports, but nothing solid yet.
slot machines make it hard to open with out setting off an alert so why do AMT have less of that stuff?
Yeah, we used Windows Embedded for years in an industrial product. There were two drivers. The first was a well-tested library that we needed was most commonly used in Windows. The vendor was willing to build for Linux, but we would be the first users and didn't like the risk. The second driver was, believe it or not, USB thumbdrive support. At the end of the 90s, floppies were too small, so we transitioned to superdrives (compatible with floppies, but capacity was up to 120MB). Only one vendor made these drives, though, and soon they were end of life. The only good alternative was to support thumbdrives. But Linux back then was very hit-or-miss for thumbdrive support. Windows worked with nearly everything our customers threw into it.
Ironically (or not), the USB support is where we've had virus problems with Windows Embedded.
Linux USB support is now just fine, so we've transitioned to Linux. But Windows Embedded was fine - it let you only install the services you needed, so the vulnerability profile was much smaller than "kitchen sink" Windows.
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
Linux users bashing Windows...
Wait. I thought it was Microsoft that bashed Windows with Ubuntu.