TOTAL NEGLIGENCE IN THE SECURITY ASPECT OF BANKS :
Opinion
11/08/2016.
659.
All Members,
Respected family members of this great holy Nation.
1.
Sub : Kerala: High-tech foreigners target SBI ATM in Thiruvananthapuram; Rs 3.5 lakh skimmed :
Media reports -
August 9, 2016 13:32 IST
By Arkadev Ghoshal
Kerala Police are investigating a high-tech fraud involving an ATM kiosk at Thiruvananthapuram. Around Rs. 3-3.5 lakh was withdrawn from accounts of more than a dozen people who used the State Bank of India (SBI) ATM at Althara junction in Vellayambalam area of the city.
Deputy Commissioner of Thiruvananthapuram Police (Law and Order) G Siva Kumar told International Business Times, India, that the ATM kiosk was suspected to have been targeted by three foreign nationals. The matter came to fore after several users of the ATM complained about money being transferred from their accounts.
The DCP said cash was withdrawn by the scamsters on Aug. 6 and 7 from ATMs at Mumbai. So far, at least 16 people have registered complaints of cash being withdrawn from their accounts.
The total cheated amount is believed to be Rs. 3-3.5 lakh, and not all the victims are SBI account holders.
Siva Kumar told IBTimes India: "The suspects used a camera over the ATM keypad to record the personal identification numbers (PINs) of people. Then, they somehow managed to duplicate or re-create the ATM cards, which they then used to withdraw money in Mumbai over the weekend".
He added: "We suspect three foreign nationals to be behind this crime. We are analysing CCTV footage from the SBI ATM. A section of the investigation is also going on in Mumbai".
Meanwhile, police have issued an advisory for users of the Althara junction ATM. "We have asked people who used the ATM in the past two-three months to block their cards. They must also be told to change their PINs so that the miscreants cannot use the cloned ATM cards to withdraw money," the DCP told IBTimes India.
2.
Sub : Kerala ATM robbery: Key Romanian suspect held in Mumbai :
Ref : Media report
Thiruvananthapuram: A Romanian national, who along with two other foreigners is suspected to be involved in the hi-tech ATM robbery in which a number of people lost money here, has been arrested in Mumbai, police said on Wednesday.
The accused, Gabriel Marian, whose pictures were released by the police here on Tuesday, was taken into custody by the Mumbai Police late Tuesday night. He identified two others involved in the crime as Bogdean Florian and Christian Victor. The fourth has not been identified.
A team of Kerala Police has left to Mumbai to take him into custody, a senior police official said.
"The Mumbai Police will first produce him before a court there and only then we will get him in custody," he told PTI. However, he did not divulge any further details.
Kerala Police on Tuesday zeroed in on three foreign nationals, who are suspected to be the key players behind the hi-tech ATM robbery, and decided to seek Interpol's help.
The trio, found installing an electronic device inside an ATM kiosk of a public sector bank at Vellayambalam here, had been caught in the CCTV installed there.
According to police, the three foreign nationals were from Romania and had come to India on 25 June and reached Kerala on 8 July. The three had come on tourist visas and had taken rooms in a hotel here for two days.
Police also seized from the hotel two scooters and three helmets, suspected to have been used by the trio.
The state police shared their photos and other available details with their counterparts in other states which led to the arrest of one among them, police said.
So far, more than 20 people had lodged complaints saying money was withdrawn from their account.
As per the preliminary assessment, about Rs 2.5 lakh had been lost, police said.
It is suspected that the electronic device at the ATM counter enabled the fraudsters to collect the secret pin code and card details.
Many of the customers who were duped came to know about the fraud after they received a text message on Monday, informing that money was withdrawn from their accounts.
The police have urged all those who used their ATM card form this kiosk to change their pins and have also asked all the banks to ensure that their kiosks do not contain any external fixtures.
3.
Sub : Thiruvananthapuram skimming case: ATM technology was outdated, says cyber experts :
Ref : DECCAN CHRONICLE. | ARJUN RAGHUNATH
Published Aug 11, 2016, 7:08 am IST
Police has sought clarification from SBI officials on the lapses.
Their identity came to light after the staffers of a five-star hotel at Kovalam recognised them through the CCTV footage of the ATM thieves that was released by the police through television channels on Tuesday morning. (Photo: Youtube grab)
Thiruvananthapuram: Police and cyber experts probing the modus operandi of the Romanian skimmers have detected serious security lapses at the State Bank of India Althara branch ATM.
The ATM counter was found to be using an outdated data encryption technology keeping the port connecting the ATM to the bank's network open, and there was even an open power source.
Even as the Romanians managed to install a wireless router in the network by disconnecting the ATM from the network temporarily, the bank failed to detect the suspicious activities. The police is learnt to have sought clarification from the SBI officials on these grave lapses.
"Prima facie, all basic guidelines of Reserve Bank of India regarding the safety of ATMs were thrown to the winds here," a top officer told DC.
As per safety guidelines, the encryption software needs to be updated every three months. The port connecting ATM to bank's network as well as power supply sockets should be inside the ATM service room in such a manner that public can't access them.
"Whenever there is a break in the network connectivity, or an ATM gives out, it would send an alert to the bank. Even as the racketeers managed to install the router by temporarily disconnecting the connectivity, it seems the bank authorities had taken such alerts lightly," they said.
A team of police personnel of the Cyber Dome and cyber experts from agencies like Centre for Development of Advanced Computing were probing their modus operandi under the supervision of IG Thiruvananthapuram-range Manoj Abraham. The police will seek court's permission for a detailed examination of the router as it needs to be cracked to know the exact decryption technique adopted.
The police strongly suspects that the racketeers targeted this ATM for its feeble security features, mainly the open network cable port availability and the outdated encryption technique used.
"Though there were two ATMs in that kiosk, all the victims were those who used the old one," they said.
While the micro camera enabled device fixed on top of the ATM was used to copy the PIN, a wi-fi router installed along the network was used to intrude into the bank's network and loot vital account information, said police sources.
MY VIEWS-
1. OUR BANKS - MOSTLY INEFFICIENT IN EVERY RESPECT;
2. SECURITY IS NEGLECTED IN THE BANKS, NO WATCH SYSTEM, OR CLOSED CIRCUIT TV RECORDING THE HAPPENINGS IN THE BANKS;
3. ATM : MANY CRIMES REPORTED, STILL NO CARE IS TAKEN;
4. THE ATM DOOR, NOT WORKING, RULES NOT FOLLOWED, WHEN ONE PERSON
UNDER TRANSACTION INSIDE, ANOTHER ALSO BEHIND HIM WATCHING;
5. NO CHECK BY THE BANK OR ANY OTHER AUTHORITY;
6. SECURITY PERSON, STANDING OUTSIDE, NOT QUALIFIED, PHYSICALLY UNFIT, WITH NO WEAPON, JUST A JOKER POSTED;
7. TOTAL THE BANKS SHOULD BE PULLED, AND AUTHORITIES MUST BE CHARGE SHEETED FOR NEGLIGENCE.
Thank you for reading
JAIHIND.
Next With Another Topic ....
Comments
Post a Comment