Tag Archives: Automated teller machine

Goertzel, Rugby and the Sweet-talking Scam

The South China Morning Post reports (I’ve got the hard copy here; everything there is behind a subscription wall, so no full link I’m afraid) of a clever scam where the bad guys steal just enough stuff — cards + identity — from a victim to be able to social engineer their way into trust,… Read More »

Elitism’s Big Security Hole

You would expect that if you choose an elite, premium product or service that it was more secure than its lesser, bog standard one. But after an incident today I’m not so sure. I happen to have a fancy premium account at my bank. I didn’t really want it, and object to such things on… Read More »

Cash With a Human Face

Here’s a useful innovation for foiling scammers stealing money from ATMs with their heads covered to avoid identification: a system which “can distinguish between someone whose face is covered or uncovered, and only grant access to those who bare their faces.” No face, no dosh According to Taiwan’s Central News Agency (no story URL available;… Read More »

Shoulder Surfing. The Old New Phishing

Stealing passwords in the old days used to involve shoulder surfing — cruising past the mark while s/he’s tapping in her/his password into the computer/ATM/cookie dispenser. But I had a scare today that made me realise that this is still a pretty easy way to get information. Newly landed in Hong Kong, I breezed over… Read More »

Worm Hits Diebold’s Windows ATMs

It’s not happy days for Diebold, the company behind ATMs and electronic voting. Its e-voting machines have been the source of much controversy — earlier this month it withdrew its suit against people who had posted leaked documents about alleged security breaches in the software. Now its automatic teller machines have been hit — by… Read More »