ATM malware has evolved to attack banks' corporate network: report

ATM malware has evolved from requiring physical access to infect the machines to now successfully attacking network-based access using the bank's corporate network, a new report said on Tuesday.

Global cyber security solutions leader Trend Micro and Europol's European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) released a comprehensive report titled "Cashing in on ATM Malware", that details both physical and network-based malware attacks on ATMs as well as highlights where the malware is created.

The report dissects recent attacks using bank networks to both steal money and credit card data from ATM machines, regardless of network segmentation.

"The malware being used has evolved significantly and the scope and scale of the attacks have grown proportionately. While industry and law enforcement cooperation has developed strongly, the crime continues to thrive due to the major financial rewards available to the organised crime groups involved," said Steven Wilson, Head of EC3.

These attacks not only risk personally identifiable information (PII) and large sums of money, but also put banks in violation of PCI-compliance standards.

"Protecting against today's cyber threats and meeting compliance standards require increased resources that are not always available for organisations, including those in the financial services industry," added Max Cheng, Chief Information Officer for Trend Micro.

Public-Private Partnership strengthen the global, ongoing fight against cybercrime, and help fill the resource gap for organisations.

"A well-designed security plan can go a long way towards ensuring that an ATM installation can become very difficult to exploit and victimise," said Nilesh Jain, Country Manager-(India and SAARC), Trend Micro.