ATM Logical Attacks

Terminal fraud attacks in Europe drop during the Covid-19 pandemic

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Terminal fraud attacks in Europe drop during the Covid-19 pandemicEAST has published a European Payment Terminal Crime Report covering 2020 which shows that terminal related fraud attacks have dropped significantly during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Terminal related fraud attacks were down 64% (from 18,217 to 6,523 incidents). Card skimming fell to another all-time low (down from 1,496 to 656 incidents) and transaction reversal fraud (TRF) at ATMs decreased by 97% (down from 9,054 to just 250 incidents). Total losses of €218 million were reported, down 14% from the €249 million reported during 2019. Most losses remain international issuer losses due to card skimming, which were €183 million.

EAST Executive Director Lachlan Gunn said, “2020 was a highly unusual year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and crime and fraud patterns changed accordingly.  While it is good news to see such a significant fall in terminal fraud attacks, there is concern that explosive attacks at ATMs have only fallen by 6%, and that related losses are up by 39%.  The average cash loss for a solid explosive attack is estimated at €28,218, and collateral damage to equipment and buildings can be significant.  There are also major safety issues.  Despite national lockdowns and border closures, mobile organised crime groups continued to operate across Europe.”

ATM related physical attacks were down 19% (from 4,571 to 3,722 incidents).  Attacks due to ram raids and ATM burglary were down 33% (from 1,122 to 749 incidents).  ATM explosive attacks (including explosive gas and solid explosive attacks) were down 6% (from 977 to 923 incidents).  Losses due to ATM related physical attacks were €22.4 million, a 1% increase from the €22.1 million reported during 2019.  47% of these losses were due to explosive attacks, which were up 39% from €10.49 to €14.59 million.

ATM malware and logical attacks against ATMs were up 44% (from 35 to 129) and all the reported attacks were Black Box attacks.  A Black Box attack is the connection of an unauthorised device which sends dispense commands directly to the ATM cash dispenser, in order to ‘cash-out’ or ‘jackpot’ the ATM.  Related losses were up 14% from €1.09 to €1.24 million.  Most such attacks remain unsuccessful.

A summary of the report statistics under the main headings is in the table below.

The full Crime Report is available to EAST Members (National, Global and Associate)

EAST EGAF holds 22nd Meeting

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The 22nd Meeting of the EAST Expert Group on All Terminal Fraud (EGAF) took place on Wednesday 20th January 2021.  Due to the Covid-19 situation, it was conducted as a virtual meeting and was chaired by Otto de Jong of ING Bank.

The meeting was attended by 29 key representatives from Terminal Deployers, Terminal Vendors, Networks, Card Schemes, Security Equipment and Software Vendors, Law Enforcement and Forensic Analysts.

EAST EGAF, which meets three times a year in advance of each of the meetings of EAST National and Global Members, enables in-depth and technical discussion to take place on Logical and Malware attacks, Card Data Compromise and other issues relating to terminal fraud.

Presentations were made by Europol, INTERPOL, BKA, Diebold Nixdorf, Fiducia & GAD, and the MCMA.

Experts from the following organisations also contributed to the meeting:  AXEPTA – BNP Paribas, Bits A/S, BVK, Cardtronics, Cennox,  Damage Control, Dutch Payments Association, Group-IB, GMV, Mastercard, NatWest Group, NCR, PSA, KAL, TietoEVRY, TMD Security, and TrendMicro.

In addition EAST EGAF generates EAST Fraud Alerts for all EAST Members (National, Global and Associate). In total 256 EAST Fraud Alerts have been issued as can be seen in the table below.

Black Box attacks increase across Europe

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Black BoxEAST has just published a European Payment Terminal Crime Report covering the first six months of 2020 which reports a sharp increase in Black Box attacks on European ATMs.

ATM malware and logical attacks against ATMs were up 269% (from 35 to 129) and all the reported attacks were Black Box attacks. A Black Box attack is the connection of an unauthorised device which sends dispense commands directly to the ATM cash dispenser, in order to ‘cash-out’ or ‘jackpot’ the ATM. Related losses were up from less than €1,000, to just over €1 million.

EAST Executive Director Lachlan Gunn said, “Overall crime at terminals has decreased during the lockdown phase of the pandemic. While this rise in Black Box attacks is of concern, most such attacks remain unsuccessful. Our Expert Group on All Terminal Fraud (EGAF) is focussed on addressing this issue, with close cooperation between industry partners and law enforcement. In January 2019 EGAF worked with Europol to update a document, published by Europol, entitled ‘Guidance & recommendations regarding logical attacks on ATMs’. This is currently available in English, French, German, Russian, Spanish and Turkish”.

Terminal related fraud attacks were down 66% (from 10,723 to 3,631 incidents). Card skimming fell to another all-time low (down from 731 to 321 incidents) and transaction reversal fraud (TRF) at ATMs decreased by 97% (down from 3,405 to just 108 incidents). Total losses of €109 million were reported, down 12% from the €124 million reported during the same period in 2019.

ATM related physical attacks were down 23% (from 2,376 to 1,829 incidents). Attacks due to ram raids and ATM burglary were down 34% (from 610 to 405 incidents) and ATM explosive attacks (including explosive gas and solid explosive attacks) were up 0.4% (from 503 to 505 incidents). Losses due to ATM related physical attacks were €12.6 million, an 11% increase from the €11.4 million reported during the same period in 2019. This increase was driven by a rise in losses due to explosive and gas attacks, which were up 49% from €5.1 million to €7.6 million.

A summary of the report statistics under the main headings is in the table below.

The full Crime Report is available to EAST Members (National, Global and Associate)

 

EAST EGAF holds 21st Meeting

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The 21st Meeting of the EAST Expert Group on All Terminal Fraud (EGAF) took place on Wednesday 16th September 2020.  Due to the Covid-19 situation, it was conducted as a virtual meeting and was chaired by Otto de Jong of ING Bank.

The meeting was attended by 28 key representatives from Terminal Deployers, Terminal Vendors, Networks, Card Schemes, Security Equipment and Software Vendors, Law Enforcement and Forensic Analysts.

EAST EGAF, which meets three times a year in advance of each of the meetings of EAST National Members, enables in-depth and technical discussion to take place on Logical and Malware attacks, Card Skimming, Card Trapping, Cash Trapping and Transaction Reversal Fraud (TRF).

Presentations were made by Europol, INTERPOL, Damage Control, Diebold Nixdorf, Group-IB, KAL, Mastercard and NCR.

Experts from the following organisations also contributed to the meeting:  Bits A/S, Cardtronics, Cennox,  Dutch Payments Association, Fiducia & GAD, GMV, NatWest Group, TietoEVRY, TMD Security, TrendMicro.

An increasing number of TRF incidents are being reported and, to help mitigate the risk, EAST EGAF has produced a general Security Alert about the threat, which was ratified by the meeting.

In addition EAST EGAF generates EAST Fraud Alerts for all EAST Members (National, Global and Associate). In total 247 EAST Fraud Alerts have been issued, 22 to date in 2020. Since 2013 there have been 15 Fraud Alerts issued relating to TRF.

Terminal fraud attacks increase in Europe

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terminal fraudEAST has just published a European Payment Terminal Crime Report covering 2019 which reports that terminal fraud attacks were up 35%.

Terminal related fraud attacks rose from 13,511 to 18,217 incidents, mainly driven by an 87% increase in ATM transaction reversal fraud attacks (up from 4,843 to 9,054 incidents), while card skimming incidents fell 21% to an all-time low (down from 1,883 to 1,496 incidents).

EAST Executive Director Lachlan Gunn said, “Despite the overall rise in terminal fraud incidents, total reported losses were almost unchanged. Transaction reversal fraud losses did rise from €2.6 million to €5.2 million, but the continued drop in skimming incidents has helped to keep the overall loss position stable.”

Total losses of €249 million were reported, up 1% from the €247 million reported in 2018. Overall losses due to card skimming were unchanged and losses due to card trapping were down by 14% (from €2.9 million to €2.5 million).

ATM related physical attacks were up 0.5% (from 4,579 to 4,571 incidents). Attacks due to ram raids and ATM burglary were down 11% (from 1,256 to 1,122 incidents) and ATM explosive attacks (including explosive gas and solid explosive attacks) were down 7% (from 1,052 to 977 incidents). Losses due to ATM related physical attacks were €22 million, a 39% decrease from the €36 million reported in 2018.

The average cash loss for a robbery is estimated at €20,369 per incident, the average cash loss per explosive or gas attack is €10,735 and the average cash loss for a ram raid or burglary attack is €9,377. These figures do not take into account collateral damage to equipment or buildings, which can be significant and often exceeds the value of the cash lost in successful attacks.

A total of 140 ATM malware and logical attacks were reported, down from 157 in 2018, an 11% decrease. All the reported attacks were ‘cash out’ or ‘jackpotting’ attacks. In 118 attacks equipment typically referred to as a ‘black box’ was used, and malware was used in the other 22 attacks. Related losses were up 142%, from €0.45 million to €1.09 million.

A summary of the report statistics under the main headings is in the table below.

The full Crime Report is available to EAST Members (National, Global and Associate)

EAST Publishes European Fraud Update 1-2020

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EAST has just published its first European Fraud Update for 2020. This is based on country crime updates given by representatives of 18 countries in the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), and 2 non-SEPA countries, at the 50th EAST meeting held in Vienna on 12th February 2020.

Payment fraud issues were reported by eighteen countries. Seven countries reported CNP fraud occurring worldwide. One reported that the card data is either bought in bulk or obtained via card testing/BIN attacks. The attackers use scripts/bots (not real people) to conduct the fraud. Four countries reported BIN attacks. One reported that they are originating from the Middle East for the first time and another reported them in relation to both CP and CNP fraud, with losses reported in the USA, the UK and Brazil. Two countries reported Account Takeover Fraud, one of them in connection with SIM swapping.

Six countries reported phishing. One reported the use of fake emails by criminals to impersonate bank customers, claiming that their bank account details have changed. Another reported that online banking was targeted, and a third country reported phishing using social networks, with related fraud occurring in China. Three countries reported SMS phishing (Smishing). One of them reported this related to token validation transactions – the IP addresses are in Morocco and the fraud occurs in an EU country with losses via Western Union.

To date in 2020 the EAST Payments Task Force (EPTF) has published one related Payment Alert.

ATM malware and logical attacks were reported by twelve countries – one reported successful ATM malware attacks where ‘Cutlet Maker’ was used, and ten reported the usage (or attempted usage) of ‘black-box’ devices to allow the unauthorised dispensing of cash. To date in 2020 the EAST Expert Group on All Terminal Fraud (EGAF) has published one related Fraud Alert.

Card skimming at ATMs was reported by ten countries, and the downward trend continues. Six countries reported the usage of ‘M3 – Card Reader Internal Skimming devices’, and the usage of ‘M1 – Overlay Skimming Devices’ and ‘M2 – Throat Inlay Skimming Devices’ was also reported. Skimming attacks on other terminal types were reported by eight countries. Four reported attacks on unattended payment terminals (UPTs) at petrol stations, and three reported attacks at railway ticket machines. To date in 2020 EAST EGAF has published four related Fraud Alerts.

Year to date International skimming related losses were reported in 14 countries and territories outside SEPA and in 4 within SEPA. The top three locations where such losses were reported remain Indonesia, India and the USA.

Five countries reported card trapping attacks, one of them reporting a new method that allows several cards to be captured in one attack. Three countries reported transaction reversal fraud (TRF) incidents. To date in 2020 EAST EGAF has published two related Fraud Alerts.

Ram raids and ATM burglary were reported by eleven countries and eleven countries reported explosive gas attacks, one of which resulted in a fatality. Eight countries reported solid explosive attacks. The usage of Triacetone Triperoxide (TATP) for solid explosive attacks continues to increase across Europe. Mixing TAPT is a complicated procedure that requires good knowledge of the chemicals, as there is a danger of setting off an unexpected explosion. The spread of such attacks is of great concern to the industry due to the risk to life and to the significant amount of collateral damage to equipment and buildings.
To date in 2020 the EAST Expert Group on ATM & ATS Physical Attacks (EGAP) has published two related Physical Attack Alerts.

The full European Fraud Update is available to EAST Members (National, Global and Associate).

Europol publishes Turkish language version of ATM Logical Attack Guidelines

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EuropolATM has just published a Turkish language version of guidelines to help industry and law enforcement counter the ATM Logical Attack threat.  The English version of the document was officially launched in January 2019 at the 17th Meeting of the EAST Expert Group on All Terminal Fraud (EAST EGAF).  The document is now available in English, French, German, Spanish, Russian and Turkish.

The production of this document was coordinated by EAST EGAF.  It has three sections:

  1. Description of Modi Operandi (Hareket Tarzi Açiklamas i)
  2. Mitigating the risk of ATM Logical and Malware Attacks, Setting up Lines of Defence (ATM’lere Yönelik Mantiksal ve Kötü Niyetli Yazilim Saldirilarinin Risklerini Hafifletmek Savunma Hatlari Kurmak)
  3. Identifying and responding  to Logical and Malware Attacks (Mantiksal ve KÖTÜ Niyetli Yazilim Saldirilarini Saptamak ve Yanitlamak)

The Guidelines were first published in 2015 and this latest version provides clearer definitions and greater clarity of the criminal methods and techniques encountered in these attacks, along with more detailed recommendations on how to mount a robust and effective response to them.  The recent fall in ATM malware and logical attacks, as reported by EAST in the latest European Payment Terminal Crime Report published in October 2019, reflects the work that has been put into preventing such attacks by the industry and law enforcement.

Circulation of the document is restricted to Law Enforcement and to the banking and payments industry, which includes EAST Members (National and Associate).

EAST EGAF holds 20th Meeting in Amsterdam

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The 20th Meeting of the EAST Expert Group on All Terminal Fraud (EAST EGAF) took place on Wednesday 15th January 2020 at ING Domestic Bank in Amsterdam.

EAST EGAF is a regional expert group that focuses on regional and global payment terminal crime and fraud related issues, threats and counter-measures.

The meeting was chaired by Mr Otto de Jong from ING Bank and was attended by key representatives from Terminal Deployers, Terminal Vendors, Networks, Card Schemes, Security Equipment and Software Vendors, Law Enforcement and Forensic Analysts.

This was a milestone meeting and, in recognition of his work in founding and supporting EGAF, as well as his 16 years of active support for EAST, Otto was presented with an award by Ms Veronica Borgogna of BANCOMAT S.p.A, the current Chair of EAST.

Presentations were made by Europol (AP Cyborg), Geldmaat, Damage Control and Fiducia & GAD IT AG.

The EGAF Group, which meets three times a year in advance of each of the meetings of EAST National Members, enables in-depth and technical discussion to take place on Logical and Malware attacks, Card Skimming, Card Trapping, Cash Trapping and Transaction Reversal Fraud.

In addition EAST EGAF generates EAST Fraud Alerts for all EAST Members (National, Global and Associate). In total 227 EAST Fraud Alerts have been issued, 2 to date in 2020.

Europol publishes German language version of ATM Logical Attack Guidelines

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EuropolATM has just published a German language version of guidelines to help industry and law enforcement counter the ATM Logical Attack threat.  The English version of the document was officially launched in January 2019 at the 17th Meeting of the EAST Expert Group on All Terminal Fraud (EAST EGAF).  The document is now available in English, French, German, Spanish and Russian.

The production of this document was coordinated by EAST EGAF.  It has three sections:

  1. Description of Modi Operandi (Beschreibung Der Vorgehensweise)
  2. Mitigating the risk of ATM Logical and Malware Attacks, Setting up Lines of Defence (Risiken Für Logische System-Angriffe Und Malware-Attacken Auf Geldautomaten Verringern, Abwehrmechanismen Etablieren)
  3. Identifying and responding  to Logical and Malware Attacks (Logische Systemangriffe Und Malware-Attacken Erkennen Und Darauf Reagieren)

The Guidelines were first published in 2015 and this latest version provides clearer definitions and greater clarity of the criminal methods and techniques encountered in these attacks, along with more detailed recommendations on how to mount a robust and effective response to them.  The recent fall in ATM malware and logical attacks, as reported by EAST in the latest European Payment Terminal Crime Report published in October 2019, reflects the work that has been put into preventing such attacks by the industry and law enforcement.

Circulation of the document is restricted to Law Enforcement and to the banking and payments industry, which includes EAST Members (National and Associate).

Europol publishes Russian language version of ATM Logical Attack Guidelines

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ATM Logical Attack GuidelinesEuropol has just published a Russian language version of guidelines to help industry and law enforcement counter the ATM Logical Attack threat.  The English version of the document was officially launched in January 2019 at the 17th Meeting of the EAST Expert Group on All Terminal Fraud (EAST EGAF).  The document is now available in English, French, Spanish and Russian.

The production of this document was coordinated by EAST EGAF.  It has three sections:

  1. Description of Modi Operandi (ОПИСАНИЕ CПОСОБОВ РЕАЛИЗАЦИИ АТАК)
  2. Mitigating the risk of ATM Logical and Malware Attacks, Setting up Lines of Defence (МИНИМИЗАЦИЯ РИСКА ЛОГИЧЕСКИХ АТАК И АТАК С ПРИМЕНЕНИЕМ ВРЕДОНОСНОГО ПО, УСТАНОВКА ЛИНИЙ ЗАЩИТЫ)
  3. Identifying and responding  to Logical and Malware Attacks (ИДЕНТИФИКАЦИЯ И РЕАГИРОВАНИЕ НА ЛОГИЧЕСКИЕ АТАКИ)

The Guidelines were first published in 2015 and this latest version provides clearer definitions and greater clarity of the criminal methods and techniques encountered in these attacks, along with more detailed recommendations on how to mount a robust and effective response to them.  The recent fall in ATM malware and logical attacks, as reported by EAST in the latest European Payment Terminal Crime Report published in October 2019, reflects the work that has been put into preventing such attacks by the industry and law enforcement.

Circulation of the document is restricted to Law Enforcement and to the banking and payments industry, which includes EAST Members (National and Associate).