Are you taking advantage of these valuable ATM security strategies?
At first, it seemed like something out of a movie. On a dark night in 2017, a pickup truck backed up to a free-standing ATM in Houston, Texas. The occupants got out, took heavy chains and attached them to the ATM. They then get back into the truck and floored it, ripping the machine from its moorings and dragging it away.
The technique spread across Texas and is currently migrating toward the east coast. It’s happened enough times to earn its own moniker: “the hook and chain”. But this is only one of many types of attacks criminals are deploying to mine large amounts of cash from ATMs worldwide. Some criminals have upped their game from pickup tricks to large construction vehicles, literally picking up an ATM in the bucket and carrying it away. Still others are using sophisticated gas and solid explosives to blast open ATMs and rake in the cash.
ATM attacks increased 165% from 2021 to 2022.
– ATMIA, July 14, 2023
Every new approach to ATM theft is matched by an industry strategy for beating it. For example, in response to the hook and chain robberies across Texas, many financial institutions (FIs) installed bollard gates and other physical kiosk enclosures to protect free-standing ATMs from truck attacks. Often, steps like this send the thieves scrambling for a different approach, so experts in ATM crime prevention say awareness of the big picture of ATM criminal activity can give FIs an edge.
A layered defense
In addition to awareness, having a layered defense is the best approach to physical attacks on ATMs.
Related: Six ways FIs can guard against the latest cyberattacks
The outer layer is the location and placement of the physical ATM itself. A proper risk assessment for the specific location can help you decide what level of ATM safe is needed. Will the ATM be just inside the glass doors of a building? Outdoors in an unattended environment, with or without the “runway” a vehicle could take advantage of in getting close to the ATM?
Conducting a risk assessment can help determine the level of security needed at a specific location. Understanding the potential attack vectors is critical, so your risk assessment should include an evaluation of the type of physical attacks that are most likely to occur at these ATMs.
An ATM in a protected indoor location with security may not need a rated safe. When more security is needed, CEN 1 safes should be considered for interior units, but exterior units in standalone environments might need a CEN 3 or CEN 4 higher level of protection. If the risk of explosive attacks is high, then a GasEx version should be ordered for these units.
The second layer is the rating of the ATM safe, whether it’s primarily steel or the heavier concrete composite-wrapped steel.
The third layer is additional augmentation and enclosers as needed based on the risk assessment for each ATM. These often include:
- Surveillance cameras and monitoring
- Safe slot reinforcement kits for existing ATMs in vulnerable locations (to make it harder for hooks to be inserted)
- Gas protection systems, which can expel gases detected in an ATM before they can build into and explosion
- Enclosures such as bollard gates and other structures to block the “runway” to the ATM
- GPS devices in the ATM itself
- Vibration alarms that go off when the ATM is tampered with
- Ink-staining technology, which stains the notes with ink to render them unusable if the ATM is attacked
- Intelligence services, tools and expertise to help law enforcement recover stolen cash and catch thieves
Photos from customer case:
FIs like Regions Bank are deploying a mix of strategies to fight physical assaults on their ATMs. “There’s no silver bullet to prevent attacks,” says Matt Snow, Regions’ head of cash and operations. To win the battle, he says, everyone needs to “participate in the information share. Aggressively pursue your partners for solutions and let's defeat the bad guys together."
While many of these strategies are familiar and self-explanatory, let’s take a closer look at the last two on the list above.
Ink-staining technology: well-established in Europe, an opportunity in the US
Ink-staining solutions, also called intelligent banknote neutralization systems (IBNS) are widely recognized globally, from Malaysia and across Europe, as the ultimate defense solution against all types of physical attacks including cutting attacks, ram-raids, explosives and hook-and-chain. Some governments and law enforcement organizations mandate its use in certain markets in response to ongoing physical attack threats, and those who have deployed it have seen successes in reducing the volume of those attacks. While this strategy is now yet widely used in the US, it may be the tool with both the greatest deterrent potential and the best potential prosecute ATM thieves.
"If you’re getting in a fight, you want somebody in your corner who can help you win."
– VP of ATM Security at NCR Atleos
Here's how it works: When an ATM protected by ink-staining technology is attacked, a device disperses a traceable permanent dye into all cash cassettes, saturating the bank notes. It’s effective because:
- Criminals often walk away from the cash during the robbery in fear of being caught.
- Once word gets out that a FI uses ink-staining technology in its ATMS, criminals tend to target unprotected ATMs instead.
- The ink contains a permanent chemical marker that can transfer to the criminals’ skin and clothing. Investigators and police can use this to prosecute criminals for an attack on an ATM.
- The dye can saturate the notes, rendering them unreadable and removing the motivation for the attack.
Intelligence services: data, analysis, tenacity and the sharing of information
When you have a box full of cash sitting there, the threat is always real. The key is staying ahead of the criminals’ next strategy. That means not just periodic but daily security reports and analysis. It’s a full time specialty assisting law enforcement departments with evidence for prosecutions in the local areas where ATM crimes have taken place—sometimes even pushing out communications to people who might have seen someone in the area with green dye on their hands. If you’re getting into a fight, you want to somebody in your corner who can help you win.
