ATM, e-payment attacks to worsen in 2015

CEBU, Philippines - The banking public is warned to be more vigilant this year as attacks against automated teller machines and virtual payment system are seen to grow this year.

Kaspersky Lab, a leading developer of secure content and threat management solutions, warned that cyber criminals are growing in confidence.

  In a recent investigation, Kaspersky Lab security experts discovered an incident where cyber criminals were able to draw off enough information to steal money directly from a bank.

 The targeting of banks directly, the evolution of cybercriminal activities that targets ATMs, mobile payment system, and the nation-state tactics are just some of Kaspersky Lab’s 2015 predictions.

  In its latest study release, Kaspersky lab stated that before, cyber criminals tended to attack users of banking services, seeing it as the weak link in the security chain. This year, Kaspersky Lab experts anticipate high-stakes targeted cyber-attacks pinpointing the banks.

The experts' investigation further found out that cyber-criminals "will go for broke and try to develop new malware that can take cash directly from ATMs."

  In addition to financial cybercrime, 2015 is also likely to bring even more privacy concerns, security worries about Apple devices and renewed fears about connected devices to prevent hackers using tools like network printers to penetrate corporate networks.

Attacks against cash machines   seemed to explode last year with several public incidents and a rush by law enforcement authorities globally to respond to this crisis.

  As most of these systems are running Windows XP and also suffer from frail physical security, they are incredibly vulnerable by default.

  “In 2015, we expect to see further evolution of these ATM attacks with the use of targeted malicious techniques to gain access to the "brain" of cash machines. The next stage will see attackers compromising the networks of banks and using that level of access to manipulate ATM machines in real time”, said Alexander Gostev, Chief Security Expert at Global Research and Analysis Team, Kaspersky Lab.

  Likewise, Kaspersky Lab Global Research and Analysis Team expect criminals to leap at every opportunity to exploit payment systems.

  These fears can also be extended to the new Apple Pay, which uses NFC (Near Field Communications) to handle wireless consumer transactions.

Gostev said,  this is a ripe market for security research, "we expect to the appearance of vulnerability warnings about weaknesses in Apple Pay, virtual wallets and other virtual payment systems."

“The enthusiasm over the new Apple Pay is going to drive adoption through the roof and that will inevitably attract many cyber criminals looking to reap the rewards of these transactions. Apple’s design possesses and increased focus on security (like virtualized transaction data) but we’ll be very curious to see how hackers will exploit the features of this implementation”, added Gostev. (FREEMAN)