About a week ago, some scary information started making the rounds. The Telegraph reported that the FBI had issued warnings that there would potentially be a hacking attacking on ATMs worldwide. There was a threat that hackers would be unleashing a “jackpotting” attack, and that millions of dollars were at risk. The time-frame of that particular warning may have passed, but the general concern remains as such attacks will doubtlessly occur in the future.
The main concern is with small and medium financial businesses. The cyber security of such institutions is generally lacking compared to larger institutions. For example, they may have inadequate firewalls, outdated ATM firmware, and/or use of old operating systems such as Windows XP. Such weaknesses in their digital defenses makes them and their ATMs vulnerable to hacks like the “jackpotting” attack that the FBI warned about.
Financial institutions are perhaps the most important and sensitive institutions that we have. As long as they include a digital component, cyber attacks will be a continued threat. A breach of financial institutions’ digital defenses allows hackers access to people’s information and life savings, so it is their duty to be vigilant about cyber threats. If they are incapable of providing proper security, then they must retain the services of someone who can do it for them. We at Core Networks can help, so contact us and we will discuss cyber security solutions with you.
