Eight Arrested in Eastern Europe over ATM Malware
Posted by: Timothy Weaver on 01/08/2016 11:04 AM
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Europol has taken down an international criminal ring that was responsible for a series of ATM attacks dating back to 2014.
The arrests and house searches took place in Romania and the Republic of Moldova.
The ring used malware dubbed Tyupkin that allowed the criminals to empty cash from the ATM machines on demand following the successful installation of a trojan. Called “ATM jackpotting”, the exploit allowed attackers to empty infected machines by issuing commands via the machine's pin pad.
Kaspersky Lab identified the malware back in 2014 at the behest of financial institutions after multiple attacks. The malware was found on more than 50 ATMs at banks in Eastern Europe. But VirusTotal was convinced that the malware had also been deployed on machines in the US, India, China, Russia, Israel, France and Malaysia.
Kaspersky said that the attackers were able to install the malware via a bootable CD after gaining physical access to the PC inside the cash dispenser.
Wil van Gemert, Europol's Deputy Director Operations, commented: "Over the last few years we have seen a major increase in ATM attacks using malicious software. The sophisticated cybercrime aspect of these cases illustrates how offenders are constantly identifying new ways to evolve their methodologies to commit crimes. To match these new technologically savvy criminals, it is essential, as it was done in this case, that law enforcement agencies cooperate with their counterparts via Europol to share information and collaborate on transnational investigations".
Source: SCMAgazine
The arrests and house searches took place in Romania and the Republic of Moldova.The ring used malware dubbed Tyupkin that allowed the criminals to empty cash from the ATM machines on demand following the successful installation of a trojan. Called “ATM jackpotting”, the exploit allowed attackers to empty infected machines by issuing commands via the machine's pin pad.
Kaspersky Lab identified the malware back in 2014 at the behest of financial institutions after multiple attacks. The malware was found on more than 50 ATMs at banks in Eastern Europe. But VirusTotal was convinced that the malware had also been deployed on machines in the US, India, China, Russia, Israel, France and Malaysia.
Kaspersky said that the attackers were able to install the malware via a bootable CD after gaining physical access to the PC inside the cash dispenser.
Wil van Gemert, Europol's Deputy Director Operations, commented: "Over the last few years we have seen a major increase in ATM attacks using malicious software. The sophisticated cybercrime aspect of these cases illustrates how offenders are constantly identifying new ways to evolve their methodologies to commit crimes. To match these new technologically savvy criminals, it is essential, as it was done in this case, that law enforcement agencies cooperate with their counterparts via Europol to share information and collaborate on transnational investigations".
Source: SCMAgazine
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