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posted by martyb on Thursday January 29 2015, @01:42PM   Printer-friendly
from the or-how-to-expedite-large-cash-withdrawals dept.

Nick Summers has an interesting article at Bloomberg about the epidemic of 90 ATM bombings that has hit Britain since 2013. ATM machines are vulnerable because the strongbox inside an ATM has two essential holes: a small slot in front that spits out bills to customers and a big door in back through which employees load reams of cash in large cassettes. "Criminals have learned to see this simple enclosure as a physics problem," writes Summers. "Gas is pumped in, and when it’s detonated, the weakest part—the large hinged door—is forced open. After an ATM blast, thieves force their way into the bank itself, where the now gaping rear of the cash machine is either exposed in the lobby or inside a trivially secured room. Set off with skill, the shock wave leaves the money neatly stacked, sometimes with a whiff of the distinctive acetylene odor of garlic." The rise in gas attacks has created a market opportunity for the companies that construct ATM components. Several manufacturers now make various anti-gas-attack modules: Some absorb shock waves, some detect gas and render it harmless, and some emit sound, fog, or dye to discourage thieves in the act.

As far as anyone knows, there has never been a gas attack on an American ATM. The leading theory points to the country’s primitive ATM cards. Along with Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, and not many other countries, the U.S. doesn’t require its plastic to contain an encryption chip, so stealing cards remains an effective, non-violent way to get at the cash in an ATM. Encryption chip requirements are coming to the U.S. later this year, though. And given the gas raid’s many advantages, it may be only a matter of time until the back of an American ATM comes rocketing off.

 
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  • (Score: 2) by WizardFusion on Thursday January 29 2015, @01:56PM

    by WizardFusion (498) Subscriber Badge on Thursday January 29 2015, @01:56PM (#139162) Journal

    They are calling 90 attacks and "epidemic".? There are over 69,000 ATMs in the UK

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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Thexalon on Thursday January 29 2015, @03:19PM

    by Thexalon (636) on Thursday January 29 2015, @03:19PM (#139191)

    Of course it is: How else are you going to sell 69,000 fancy new ATMs that can prevent this kind of heist?

    --
    The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
  • (Score: 3, Informative) by Joe Desertrat on Thursday January 29 2015, @06:35PM

    by Joe Desertrat (2454) on Thursday January 29 2015, @06:35PM (#139247)

    Here in the US a much more common tactic used by thieves is the smash and grab. Rather than messing with the usually more difficult security of a bank, thieves will steal a pickup truck or other large cargo capable vehicle, crash it into a shop that has an ATM, toss the ATM into the truck and take off. A couple blocks away they meet another vehicle, transfer the stolen ATM to that, and take off, leaving the stolen vehicle used in the crime behind. Most of these small ATM's are secured at most by a couple bolts to the floor which can be ripped up. The whole operation takes little longer than a pit stop at a race.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 29 2015, @10:40PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 29 2015, @10:40PM (#139316)

      Some ATM's may have lojack

  • (Score: 2) by davester666 on Thursday January 29 2015, @07:58PM

    by davester666 (155) on Thursday January 29 2015, @07:58PM (#139269)

    two whack jobs kill 3 people and we have to throw away privacy and freedom of speech in order to stop the rampant terrorism happening here: Harper in Canada.