3 ms·

> Bugs were planted in the PIN pads... Fascinating. I wonder how these "bugs" worked. More information here would be great.

by 3JPLW 14y ago

weaksauce 14y ago
I wonder if it's something like a keylogger... maybe something as simple as pulling the plug out and putting something inline.
- frankus 14y ago
  Probably not. The PIN never leaves a (unmodified) terminal unencrypted. However (as mentioned previously) it would be pretty straightforward to obtain an identical terminal, insert a logging circuit inside of it (connected directly to the keypad and card reader), and replace the one at the register with the hacked one. Then all that's necessary is to recover the modified terminal at a later date and download the logged numbers.
lini 14y ago
Most probably the criminals just bought/obtained PIN pads, modified them and replaced the ones in the stores when the cashier was not looking. Not so hard to do as the pads are usually on a cord and connected with a RJ (like a phone jack).
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
revelation 14y ago
Lots of juicy pictures here: http://krebsonsecurity.com/2010/02/atm-skimmers-part-ii/ http://krebsonsecurity.com/2010/02/atm-skimmers-part-ii/ I guess you can learn from these pictures how they work.
- mumbojumbo1 14y ago
  naw, better link to full gallery of skimmer pics on that site is here: http://krebsonsecurity.com/all-about-skimmers/ http://krebsonsecurity.com/all-about-skimmers/ Krebs has a story on POS skimmers w/ pics of pin pad overlay here: http://krebsonsecurity.com/2011/05/point-of-sale-skimmers-robbed-at-the-register/ http://krebsonsecurity.com/2011/05/point-of-sale-skimmers-ro...
- ChuckMcM 14y ago
  The krebsonsecurity site is pretty awesome. I was at a talk where they discussed the hard part isn't discovering the skimmers, its catching the crooks when they cash out. So some enterprising folks are noting that the skimmers are installed and then logging all the customers who use the ATM, once they have customer records they then flag transactions on all of those accounts and wait for the crooks to try to cash out. They have caught folks with literally a bag full of cards with pins written on them trying to pull $200 - $500 out of each account.

> Bugs were planted in the PIN pads... Fascinating. I wonder how these "bugs" worked. More information here would be great.

by 3JPLW 14y ago

> Bugs were planted in the PIN pads... Fascinating. I wonder how these "bugs" worked. More information here would be great.

weaksauce 14y ago

I wonder if it's something like a keylogger... maybe something as simple as pulling the plug out and putting something inline.

frankus 14y ago
Probably not. The PIN never leaves a (unmodified) terminal unencrypted. However (as mentioned previously) it would be pretty straightforward to obtain an identical terminal, insert a logging circuit inside of it (connected directly to the keypad and card reader), and replace the one at the register with the hacked one. Then all that's necessary is to recover the modified terminal at a later date and download the logged numbers.

lini 14y ago

Most probably the criminals just bought/obtained PIN pads, modified them and replaced the ones in the stores when the cashier was not looking. Not so hard to do as the pads are usually on a cord and connected with a RJ (like a phone jack).

deleted 14y ago
[deleted]

revelation 14y ago

Lots of juicy pictures here: http://krebsonsecurity.com/2010/02/atm-skimmers-part-ii/ http://krebsonsecurity.com/2010/02/atm-skimmers-part-ii/ I guess you can learn from these pictures how they work.

mumbojumbo1 14y ago
naw, better link to full gallery of skimmer pics on that site is here: http://krebsonsecurity.com/all-about-skimmers/ http://krebsonsecurity.com/all-about-skimmers/ Krebs has a story on POS skimmers w/ pics of pin pad overlay here: http://krebsonsecurity.com/2011/05/point-of-sale-skimmers-robbed-at-the-register/ http://krebsonsecurity.com/2011/05/point-of-sale-skimmers-ro...
ChuckMcM 14y ago
The krebsonsecurity site is pretty awesome. I was at a talk where they discussed the hard part isn't discovering the skimmers, its catching the crooks when they cash out. So some enterprising folks are noting that the skimmers are installed and then logging all the customers who use the ATM, once they have customer records they then flag transactions on all of those accounts and wait for the crooks to try to cash out. They have caught folks with literally a bag full of cards with pins written on them trying to pull $200 - $500 out of each account.