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News

From pizza delivery to ATM hacker to criminal in two years

26 October 2009

An Australian pizza delivery man who stumbled on an ATM repair manual on the internet has been sentenced to 100 hours of community service, as well as handed a two year suspended prison sentence, after the hacker obtained more than AU$30 000 (about £18 000) by using the default passwords on certain types of cash machines.

A Queensland court heard how the 23-year-old ATM hacker utilised the information to devise an attack methodology on the cash machines referenced in the engineering guide.

Although the precise modus operandi of the ATM hacker has not been revealed, it seems likely he was able to use the default management passwords on so-called `kiosk' ATMs in convenience stores and petrol stations.

According to a report in the Fraser Coast Chronicle, the ATM hacker tried out his new-found knowledge on a petrol station cash machine and withdrew AU$27 120. An hour later, he `hit' another ATM for AU$7500.

The flaw in his cunning plan was that a legitimate magnetic stripe card needed to be used to trigger the ATM into operating and, the paper reported, over a period of seven months, he used his own cards, as well as those of his girlfriend, his mother and two friends.

Had the ATM hacker used a pre-paid debit card, Infosecurity notes, then it seems likely his crimes would not have been traced.

 

This article is featured in:
Data Loss • Malware and Hardware Security

 

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