Cатсн²² (in)sесuяitу / ChrisJohnRiley

Because we're damned if we do, and we're damned if we don't!

ATM Thefts – A How-to guide ???

3 Comments Posted by on February 5, 2009

Sometimes, no matter how hard you try to do something good, you end up doing something stupid. No, I’m not talking about my friend Bob this time 😉 This time it’s the creator of a (over)helpful user awareness email doing the rounds.

I was lucky enough to find a copy of this sitting in my email-box this morning, and thought it was something worth commenting on.

Step by Step guide

The PowerPoint presentation walks a user through how ATM thief’s can steal your card and PIN number using simple social engineering attack and a small piece of x-ray film. The message is a good one, and the creators (as it doesn’t appear to be an official bank creation) have their hearts in the right place. Helping poor the defenceless public is always a good thing. With that said, this PowerPoint also reads like a step by step guide for your average scumbag thief to begin running this scam on your local ATM.

Sometimes a little too much information is a bad thing. This awareness campaign would have been just as effective without all the fine detail on placing the x-ray film to catch the card. At least let the bad-guys do their own experimentation instead of handing them a proven and tested recipe.

Take a look and tell me what you think. –> DOWNLOAD

Security, Strange , , ,

3 responses to “ATM Thefts – A How-to guide ???”

  1. ATMgirl February 18, 2009 at 00:34

    But you just shared it with the world….. isn’t that a little too much information?

  2. ChrisJohnRiley February 18, 2009 at 08:53

    If only the world read my blog…

    But seriously. Sometimes you have to shed light on things that are bad. Part of that can mean shedding more light on something to get the message out that it’s wrong. We can only hope that the people who need to get the message take it in and improve things for next time.

  3. mich March 20, 2009 at 13:07

    I am someone with zero computer training and just started with linux …
    then listening to HPR …
    then heard your interview ..
    then subscribed to your blog out of curiosity (didn’t understand most/all of the technical stuff)
    then got this how to 🙂

    yup, I can confirm that your blog is read by most of the world by now 🙂

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