Google This Phrase: "How+to+Crack+an+ATM+Safe" - 2014

 

Google This Phrase: "How+to+Crack+an+ATM+Safe"

A recent Los Angeles Times article asked, “Where did all the bandits go?” Further, they wrote, “At one time, bank robberies were part of L.A.’s daily routine. Not so anymore.” As early as 1963, the Times had identified Los Angeles as the “Bank Holdup Capitol”. In 1992, which was the biggest year for bank robberies, there were as many as twenty-eight bank robberies there in a single day. In recent years, smaller jurisdictions, such as San Francisco, Atlanta and other cities have taken over the robbery crown.

Unable to give definitive reasons for L.A.’s robbery decline, experts attribute it to a combination of factors, including improved security devices and strategies. Bulletproof Plexiglas “bandit barriers” are now common in bank branches, as are high-definition video camera systems. The website "LA Bank Robbers" now specializes in photos and video of active Los Angeles area bank robbers. In California, prison sentences for repeat offenders can be as high as sixteen years, thus taking a convicted robber off the streets for more than a decade. While the average heist in 2003 netted around $10,000, in 2013, that sum had dropped to as little as $1,000. In light of the increased risk, face-to-face bank robbery no longer pays.

Old-fashioned bank banditry required little more than nerves of steel, a disguise as simple as a baseball cap and a note demanding the cash. Would be bandits who are stuck in the old energy mode can expect to have a short career in bank robbery. If they persist in serial pursuit of ever dwindling returns, arrest and detention are now almost inevitable. Unless one is determined to spend significant time in prison, bank robbery is an unromantic way to lose one’s freedom.

Since 2008, I have written occasional articles on the subject of bank robbery. They proved to be so popular that I combined them into a separate website at MoabBank.com. During my research, I discovered that the latest trend in illegal withdrawals of money from banks involves Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) theft. When I say “ATM theft”, some thieves go so far as to abscond with the ATM itself.

The most overt style of ATM theft involves the use of a heavy truck to ram an outdoor, wall-mounted ATM off its moorings. The truck of choice for these so-called ATM “ram raids” is a flatbed tow truck. Once in position, the armored steel stern of the truck bed is rammed into the wall supporting the ATM. Assuming that the ATM comes loose from its moorings, the tow truck “operator” then tilts the truck bed down at the rear. The operator then feeds out a steel cable from the truck-mounted winch, grapples the ATM and then reels it in like fish. As soon as the ATM is on the truck's ramp, the ram raid team will be back in the cab, driving away.

Like the bank branch robbery, the ATM ram raid requires speed. As soon as the truck hits the ATM, alarms both silent and loud will start to ring. Even in the middle of the night, the process is loud and boisterous, drawing the attention of both witnesses and law enforcement officers. Once away from the scene of the crime, a tow truck carrying a damaged ATM needs quick access to a secure location large enough to hide the whole rig.

Once the ram raid ATM reaches its hideout, the robbers will need a plasma torch, which can cut open the steel plate door of the ATM safe. Inside the safe, the robbers will find between one and four cash cassettes, holding up to $40,000 each. Imagine the jubilation of dividing up $160,000 between a small team of robbers. Then, imagine the consternation over getting rid of the tow truck and vacating the hideout without leaving behind any clues.

A variation on the ATM ram raid is the in-situ plasma torch robbery. Rather than stealing a tow truck and risking easy detection and capture, in-situ ATM robbers take the “Mission Impossible” route. After locating a bank branch in a strip mall or other single-story building, the robbers first "case the joint" for security cameras and roof access points. Posing as tradesmen and utilizing ladders, the robbers can easily move their demolition and break-in tools to the roof. After staging their tools and equipment above street level, several members of the team remain on the roof, while others remove the access ladders and retreat to a safe location.

Overnight, the roof-team opens a hole in the roof sufficient to lower one or more members into the “back room” of the ATM. Once inside, security cameras are blocked and other security systems compromised. With portable fans working to evacuate any fumes up and trough the escape-hole, the robbers proceed to cut the reinforced hinges off the ATM safe. Once inside the ATM, the robbers remove the cash cassettes, bag the money and raise everything back up to the roof. Before sunrise, the “tradesmen's truck” returns and a ladder allows the roof-team totransport both themselves and the money to the truck. If all goes well for the bandits, no hideout is required and there is no ram raid truck requiring disposal.

For those who thought bank robbing should be easy, tow trucks, ladders, circular saws, sledgehammers, plasma torches and hideouts make for a daunting shopping list. In search of the easiest bank robbery, many have turned to electronics and software as their answer. Since most bank robbers are inherently lazy, the “debit card skimmer” has great appeal. In theory, the electronic bank robber need only use double-stick tape to install the skimmer over the actual ATM card reader. Once the unsuspecting ATM customer inserts their card into the skimmer, it reads and records both the magnetic strip on the card and the password entered by the customer. Later, the robber creates a duplicate ATM card and uses the stolen password to drain the unsuspecting customer's account.

If one is willing to do business with nefarious websites that sell thinly disguised skimmer kits, skim-kit robbery requires a relatively low investment. Some kits go as far as providing housings color-matched to the ATM’s of a targeted bank. Still, no would-be robber can be sure if he or she is buying online from other electronic criminals or from an FBI sting-website designed to catch the neophyte electronic robber. Anyone gullible enough to "click to buy" a kit designed to defraud a banking establishment might be surprised to find that there is no such kit and that their identity has been stolen. As P.T. Barnum said, "There is a sucker born every minute".

Even if successful in capturing debit card numbers and passwords via a wireless connection, the electronic robber must remain near enough to the scene to receive the data and recover the debit card skimmer. With skimmer kits costing hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, the subsequent risk of capture or loss of the deployed skimmer is high. As with traditional bank robbery, newer ATMs include security features designed to thwart electronic skimming. Using both physical and electronic sensors, a newer ATM will detect an installed skimmer and shut down the ATM.

Effective April 2014, Microsoft Corporation will no longer support its Windows XP operating System. For illegal hackers and identity thieves, the effect will be a bonanza in new ways to compromise XP computers and their users' identities. Microsoft will continue to provide software patches and a modicum of security to banks still running Windows XP and willing to pay a fee. When researching this article, I was surprised to discover that many “state of the art” ATMs rely on the thirteen-year-old Windows XP operating system. With typical shortsightedness, Microsoft is giving up their 95% lock on the ATM software business, preferring to see their clients switch to open source code offered by Linux.

Unlike a personal computer attached to the internet, ATMs connect to their home offices via a virtual private network (VPN). As such, even if they are running an old operating system like Windows XP, ATM's are less vulnerable to outside attack than any website or other internet-connected device. In order to compromise older private networks and the ATMs that they control, one must take control of the private network, itself. According to another recent L.A. Times article, that is exactly what unknown conspirators recently did.

Individuals with insider knowledge of older bank ATM network architecture hatched a brilliant, yet simple plan. First, they obtained the email addresses of ATM network administrators authorized to change both withdrawal limits and geographical restrictions on networked ATMs. Next, the conspirators sent innocuous, but official looking emails to the various ATM network administrators. Within the phishing emails were nefarious links disguised as normal business. Once an administrator clicked on the nefarious link, malware automatically downloaded to the administrator’s computer.

From there, it was a simple process for the conspirators to change withdrawal limits and geographical limits to “unlimited” status. On a predetermined holiday weekend, with bank branches closed and security lax, the conspirators struck. At such a time, a busy bank branch may have four ATMs containing up to $160,000 each. Overnight, when foot traffic was slower, conspirators used previously stolen ATM cards to access the ATM cash on an unlimited basis. Using only twelve stolen ATM cards, the most prolific conspirators recently drained a reported $45 million from one or more banking institutions. As of this writing, no one has been charged in the caper.

Whenever the economy softens, interest in making easy money through bank or ATM robbery rises. Although this website has a written Privacy Policy designed to protect the identity of visitors, I am amazed at how many people must be sitting at a computer searching for easy ways to rob a bank. Although most searches are indecipherable, several unencrypted “bank robbery” searches come through to this website each week. In the past year, I have saved the following unencrypted search strings leading to various articles on this website:

“what’s the best way to rob an ATM?”, “what can cut thru ATMs?”, “breaking into ATM safe”, “breaking into small ATM machines”, “easy ATM break ins”, “NCR 22e ATM dispenser cassette”, “ATM machines cut into”, “breaking in ATMs with a blow torch”, “easiest way to rob a bank”, “defeated ATM alarm”, “how to break into ATM safe”, “ATM kiosk design”, “breaking into a ATM machine on spot”, “can torches cut metal on a ATM?”, “how to break an ATM vault”, “easiest way to break ATM vault”, “how to crack an ATM”, “cut open an ATM”, “ATM dispenser Diebold”, “ATM safecracking”, “how to break in an ATM machine”, “easiest way to break into ATM”, “easiest way to rob a bank”, “ATM cassette removal”, “ATM burglary with blow torch”, “NCR ATM machines”, “ATMs cutter”, “cut through ATM”, “ATM machine back cash door”, “new technology in ATM machine”, “bank robbers”, “ATM vault crack”, “ATM weak points”, NCR SelfServ 14 ATM”, “NCR 22e fascia open”, “Burglars of safe with a blow torch in bank”, “easy way to break into ATM”, “use cutting torch to rob…”, “breaking into a bank's ATM through the roof”, “thieves cut open ATMs with blow torches”, “robbery metal cutter machine price”, “plasmas cutter can open ATM”, “inside ATM machine”.

If you recognize any of your own queries in the list above, please think of yourself as being in the “wanna be” or “amateur” bank robber category. Then think twice and go no further with your ATM or bank robbery plans. Otherwise, we may not see you again online for another sixteen years.

Email James McGillis

 

By James McGillis at 05:38 PM | Technology | Comments (0) | Link

Need Cash and Wish to Rob an In-Store ATM Kiosk? Wish Again... - 2012

 

Need Cash and Wish to Rob an In-Store ATM Kiosk? Wish Again...

During a recent visit to Costco, I noticed a technician opening the admin panel in order to begin repair of a CardTronics logo “Need Cash?” in-store automated teller machine (ATM). Since I am curious about ATM technology, I approached the ATM with my camera ready. As I arrived, the technician opened a drawer, which supports the front panel and customer interface.

Unlike a bank ATM, the CardTronics in-store ATM accepts no deposits. Its functions include cash dispensing, charging user fees and indirectly, facilitating cash purchases at Costco. No one outside of those two companies knows commission CardTronics pays Costco for that lucrative site. I know that CardTronics pays merchant commissions because I Googled “CardTronics+ATM+commission”. On page one of the search results I found a LinkedIn profile for a CardTronics employee. He listed his job title as “Merchant Commission Analyst”. We expect CardTronics to retire that job title soon. Sorry Charlie, but you should know that LinkedIn is public on the internet.

CardTronics is ubiquitous in the arena of freestanding, kiosk-focused financial services. With over 50,000 locations, CardTronics is the largest provider of retail ATM services in the world. Within ten miles of my own location, CardTronics has ten ATM’s ready to dispense cash for a fee. With all of their money, I wondered what integrated ATM solution CardTronics might install at Costco. I can tell you here, the answer surprised me.

Rather than a futuristic electronic ATM-marvel, the unobtrusive gray and black cabinet featured thirty-year-old technology. Up front, are a keypad, cash dispenser, receipt printer and a low-resolution display. That customer-interface module slides in and out of the cabinet on drawer glides. Bolted to a shelf high inside the cabinet is a bare-bones personal computer (PC) chassis. Showing its age, the PC features both a CD-drive and a 5.25” floppy-disk drive. If the boot sequence for the ATM fits on a floppy disk, the kernel of the operating system must be quite small.

By then I realized that the ATM was an old workhorse. Manufactured by NCR Corp. under their now retired EasyPoint trademark, the ATM features an Intel x86 processor, introduced in 1981 and the IBM OS/2 operating system introduced in 1987. During the early 1980s, IBM and Microsoft (MS) jointly developed OS/2. The unusual corporate collaboration was a joint offensive and countermeasure to growing cyber security threats. “Antivirus” updates became a nuisance for users of the fledgling Windows operating system. Despite IBM OS/2’s ability to deflect foreign executable instructions, MS Windows went on to dominance in the PC marketplace. This Costco ATM, running OS/2 in “protected mode” is virtually a closed system.

Having lost faith in their old operating system, IBM abandoned support for OS/2 in 2006. Even so, electronic ATM thieves should not waste time writing OS/2 scripts with instructions for “cash on demand”. A pair of copper wires connects the PC modem-port to the telephone network. My friend Tom Shudic helped determine how such ATMs prevent unauthorized outside access. According to Tom Shudic, “Those two wires must be a bidirectional interface, although surely with some sort of very high security protocol - perhaps even a dedicated line”. That, combined with the OS/2 operating system’s ability to block unauthorized access may explain the lack of remote control ATM robberies. Even the Russians could not hack that connection.

The only ways into an NCR EasyPoint/OS/2 ATM is with a key, a high technology cutting torch or using a battering ram. One could use an explosive, but that might destroy the cash, as well. Bank robbers seeking electronic entry to an old CardTronics in-store ATM now see that it is a waste of time and effort. Regardless of their chosen operating system, I hope that the current NCR SelfServ in-store ATM’s are as robust.

Physically, the cash cassettes are stored behind steel doors, in the base of the kiosk. Short of ramming it with a Mack Truck, you will not achieve a break in of a CardTronics kiosk ATM. Even if upended, steel plate protects the integrity of the ATM vault compartment. If any of our readers clicked here to learn techniques for in-store or electronic ATM robbery, you may now depart wiser and less likely to try such larceny.

Email James McGillis

By James McGillis at 02:22 PM | Technology | Comments (0) | Link

New ATM Technology Helps Eliminate Waste, Fraud and Theft - 2012

 

New ATM Technology Helps Eliminate Waste, Fraud and Theft

Other than a few ascetics, penitents and abstainers, almost everyone likes money. Even better than hard-earned money, is free money. To get free money, you could win the lottery, but the odds are against you. Robbing an automated teller machine (ATM) has recently become another method of choice. Becoming a bank robber is both risky and illegal. Usually, such actions result in a prison sentence for anyone so foolish as to try.

Regardless of the consequences involved, my two previous articles about ATM robbery continue to be among the most popular on this blog. As the website administrator, I can see which articles receive the most “hits”. Over time, I have watched as individuals Google “ATM Robbery” or “Bank ATM Robbery”. The number of such searches is an indicator of trans-personal economic stress. Whenever the world economy wavers, I see more search phrases that include "bank robbery". With my articles, I hope to discourage, rather than to encourage any plans to rob a bank or ATM.

In May 2008, I wrote about after-hours break-ins to bank ATM rooms. Poorly armored and alarmed ATM rooms were easy prey for break-in artists. After demolishing a demising wall from an adjoining suite, the robbers might utilize a high-speed plasma torch. With such a torch, it is easy to penetrate the lightly armored back of an ATM. With a combination of luck, skill and criminal intent, robbers could make off with more than $100,000. Better yet, the untraceable twenty-dollar bills come neatly concealed in currency cassettes complete with carrying handles.

Defeating ATM robbery attempts is relatively easy, but often neglected by even the largest banks. A combination of video surveillance, motion alarms and high-decibel alarm-horns would eliminate most such robberies. Still, many strip-center bank branches have ATM security no greater than door locks. Until the banks wake up to their vulnerabilities, I expect a continued increase in ATM break-in robberies.

In December 2011, I wrote about a new, more brazen ATM robbery. That month, in Laguna Hills, California, a local Chase Bank branch had an outdoor ATM disappear overnight. Using a large truck, robbers rammed the building, dislocating the ATM from its moorings. Using a truck-mounted winch, the robbers grappled the ATM and hauled it away. In only a few minutes, the thieves absconded with the ATM, leaving a gaping hole in the wall of the building. As of this writing, the Chase Bank Laguna Hills robbers remain at large.

There is an easy solution to the ATM-snatch-robbery phenomenon. All outdoor ATMs should have concrete filled steel bollards installed to prevent ramming by heavy equipment. A recent visit to Kokopelli Federal Credit Union (KFCU) showed no such barriers installed. Beyond exposure to “smash and grab” robbers, the lack of barriers leaves customers exposed to errant drivers. Only when enough banks settle liability lawsuits from injured customers or incur sufficient losses from outright ATM theft, will the situation change.

During a recent visit to KFCU, the ancient spirit Kokopelli was correcting their ATM problems. Seemingly everywhere at once, Kokopelli oversaw the installation of both crash barriers and new Diebold ATM security. Although busy removing an old ATM at the time, Kokopelli stopped to show me the differences between old and new ATM technology.

An old ATM, Kokopelli indicated, was a glorified envelope-processing machine, with a cash dispenser. Each day, an attendant removed the deposit envelopes, placed them in bags and couriered them to a processing facility. There, staff counted the cash and processed the checks through the Federal Reserve System. Upon receipt, a high-definition camera would photograph the contents of each envelope. That way, the bank could reconcile any discrepancies between the recorded amounts and envelope contents.

Careless or disreputable customers often deposited empty envelopes. The more brazen would later claim that they had enclosed money or checks. Although most ne’er-do-wells quickly admitted their malfeasance, some demanded proof that their envelope was empty. Either way, the process took time and money, thus creating losses for the banks. With fraud and abuse becoming rampant, banks need new ways to stop the fraudsters at their source.

 

 Diebold New ATM Technology

 

In order to eliminate ATM fraud, Diebold Corporation designed KFCU’s new ATM with electronic, photographic and communications modules. By combining new hardware and software, KFCU eliminated the use of deposit envelopes and deposit slips altogether. As you feed cash deposits into the new ATM, a photographic reader rejects any defaced or counterfeit bills.

When you deposit a check, the reader sends data to both the Federal Reserve System and to independent fraud detection. Once the software accepts the account as valid, the ATM requires the customer's approval, as well. Upon agreement, the ATM provides immediate check truncation, thus debiting the check issuer’s account. Thereafter, the scanned image becomes a substitute check, eliminating further need for the original paper check. Thereafter, the paper check serves only as backup to the electronic version.

After explaining the new technology, Kokopelli exposed the backside of the new ATM. The machine contains a high-speed central processing unit (CPU) similar to a home computer. As the brains of the ATM, the CPU connects electronically to the KFCU processing center. The center connects in turn to both the Federal Reserve and fraud prevention. Included in the new machine are check and cash readers, with storage bins for each media type. Finally, there is a device that every customer loves - the Diebold cash dispenser.

With the exception of its fascia, Kokopelli installed the entire ATM from inside the building. With proper structural reinforcement and crash guards, thieves can no longer grapple a KFCU ATM and pull it through the wall. If every bank and credit union were as careful as KFCU, the incidence of ATM theft and robbery could decline. Thank you, plush Kokopelli and KFCU for continuing to cover our ancient assets.

Email James McGillis

 

By James McGillis at 02:13 PM | Technology | Comments (0) | Link

No Holdups - Chase Bank ATM Stolen and Cleaned Out in Record Time - 2011

 

No Holdups - Chase Bank ATM Stolen and Cleaned Out in Record Time

In May 2008, I published an article titled “Bank Robbery Made Easy”. There, I described a new type of bank robbery that had recently burst upon the scene. Gone were the days of blowing up the safe with dynamite and then getting away on horseback. The new technique involved breaking into the ATM room, behind the scenes. Rather than targeting an old-fashioned brick and mortar bank, the robbers began looking look for bank branches housed within retail strip centers. After cutting through the roof of an adjacent storefront, the robbers could penetrate the demising wall between the suites and gain access to the ATM room. Once they were safe inside, the robbers would disable any security cameras and and alarm systems, and then go to work.
 
Work, in this case, meant cutting through the steel doors that armor the back of most ATMs. After strategically cutting through the armor, the robbers could remove several cassettes, which may collectively hold up to $125,000 in untraceable twenty-dollar bills. After loading the bills into bags, the robbers could retrace their steps and exit the building through the roof of the adjacent business.
 
For the cutting of steel, an old-fashioned kerosene blowtorch or even an acetylene cutting-torch will not suffice. The armor is too thick and the temperatures generated thereby are too low for adequate cutting. What, aspiring bank robbers ask, should they use to torch an ATM? Never fear, dear bank robbers, because you have unlimited access to the Magnum USA “Sea and Land” or “Blackhawk” labeled cutting torches. As stated in the Magnum USA website, “Consider the advantages in deploying a hand held "particle accelerator in a tube"™ to gain advantage over project initiatives. Operation is uncharacteristically quiet and it cuts like a master of improvisation. Sublimation is the key and our burning process, as it converts metal to a liquid state…”
 
As we said in our 2008 article, the (older model) MAG 9000 cutting torch “cuts through an ATM like butter”. Better yet, the unit is Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) approved. In other words, an agency of the federal government officially approves of these tools. It is sad that the Secret Service has not noticed the threat to U.S. currency. The Department of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) is too busy cleaning up its gunrunning business to Mexico to focus on this threat. The new model MAG 9003, with 24-volt ignition creates a white-hot flame, yet it is not a firearm. MAG 9003 owners receive no protection under the Second Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees a well organized militia the right to bear arms. This device is a bank robber’s dream coming true; an unlicensed, self-contained system that can cut steel plate wherever and whenever necessary.
 
ATM Ram Raid
 
On Friday December 23, 2011, thieves made a coordinated attack on an ATM at a Chase Bank branch in Laguna Hills, California. Using the cable-winch on a stolen flatbed tow truck, they attempted to wrench the ATM from its moorings. When the cable parted, they went to Plan-B, which consisted of ramming the ATM with the truck. Once they had freed the ATM, they pulled it up on to the flatbed and drove away.
 
According to a KABC-TV Los Angeles report, the thieves than drove to a location in nearby Lake Forest, where they “Used a blowtorch to open the machine and remove the cash…” From there, the perpetrators stole another truck and disappeared. As of this writing, the ATM robbers are still at large. If you meet someone in the islands with five-thousand twenty-dollar bills in their possession, it might be our robbers. If our robbers are sitting on an island, Googling this article, they are naive. They should know that IP address are traceable, back to their source. Did I just hear someone in the islands go "Gulp"?
 
In our previous article, we had some suggestions for the banking community. As we said then, every bank should quickly:
1. Add armor plating to all ATM rooms that share walls with neighboring businesses.
2. Add motion detection, smoke alarms and high-decibel horn alarms to all ATM rooms, thus making any break-in immediately obvious to the bank’s security department and painful to the robbers’ ears.
3. Add an additional armor to the identified weak points on all ATMs.
4. Require handgun type registration in order to purchase any high technology cutting torch (e.g., The MAG 9003).
 
To our original list, we now add one more suggestion. In front of each exposed ATM, install crash barriers capable of stopping a Mack Truck. Even in the Old West, banks utilized concrete and steel to armor their vaults. With the advent of storefront ATMs and a new class of cutting torch “firearms”, we need storefront safety barriers sufficient to protect both our bank deposits and anyone standing in front of an ATM. If the banking industry does not get serious about ATM security, we predict a future filled with ram raid ATM robberies. Protecting ATMs from theft is not brain surgery. It is more like “Banking 101”.

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By James McGillis at 04:53 PM | Technology | Comments (2) | Link

ATM Robbery - Slice Through A Bank ATM Like Butter - 2008

ATM Robbery - Slice Through A Bank ATM Like Butter

It is Safe to Say That No Safe-Cracking Method is Safe

To rob a bank, you can use several methods, including armed robbery, ATM (Automated Teller Machine) card fraud or safe cracking.  The most easily defended against is safe cracking, since years ago banks learned how to make their safes virtually impenetrable.  Although there have been isolated instances of entire bank cash machines being wrenched off their moorings and fork-lifted into waiting trucks, adequate crash bars and other impediments make that a rare occurrence. In India, thieves spent time with a cutting torch, eventually separating an entire ATM machine from its base. If the machine was visible to the public, as most are, how could such a chore go unnoticed?

 

Other than the relatively insecure bank teller lines, with the limited cash that they carry, the easiest way to rob a bank of some “serious cash” is ATM robbery, or breaking into the back of an ATM machine.  Unlike vaults, which have many inches of steel and concrete armor, most ATMs rely on relatively thin steel plate to secure many thousands of dollars that are preloaded into handy cassettes.

 

Enter the dragon.  In this case, the dragon is the compact, portable and self-contained MAG9000 oxygen-fueled cutting torch manufactured by Magnum Manufacturing.  According to their website, Magnum Manufacturing’s “central headquarters are located in Southern California”.

 

Magnum touts their system with only three words: “Speed, Power and Versatility.  Consider piercing four inches of steel in four seconds.  Consider removing one linear foot of weldment in eight seconds.  Consider the ability to burn through any material, even cast iron, stainless steel, copper, manganese and more.  Incredible performance and yet; safe and reliable in the most challenging field conditions.  Our new battery ignition system eliminates cables for ultimate portability and convenience.”

 

A recent article in Wired Magazine described the MAG9000 as the appropriate tool for “Melting through doors, walls or concrete bunkers”.  Wired went on to say, “Pull the trigger and pure oxygen flows from the tank into a barrel at the cutter's business end.  Add a spark and soft steel rods inside the barrel burn in the presence of the 0₂.  Once lit, the torch can slice through metal plate in a few seconds,

 

In “the old days”, banks were located in freestanding buildings that often resembled fortresses.  Brick and mortar gave customers a feeling of security and permanence.  In recent years, many banks have opted for less expensive and less secure strip-center locations.  Their inherent weakness is that these newer branches share common walls and a common attic space with their neighbors.

 

Although it rarely hits the news, I have it on good authority that strip-center bank robbers have recently utilized the late night breaking and entering technique.  Once inside the small ATM backrooms, the robbers disable the security cameras and defeat the alarm systems, if possible.  Then, with the relative security of their hiding place, the robbers quickly use a “torch” to cut into the back of the ATM, unload the cash-cassettes and escape the same way they came in.

 

Until this rash of “cutting torch robberies” makes more news, the low risk and potentially high return will make them ever more prevalent.  It is simply too embarrassing for any particular bank to admit that they were dumb enough to allow such easy access to their depositors’ money.

 

Appropriate actions to prevent ATM bank robbery include:

1. Armor plating of all ATM rooms that share walls with neighboring businesses.
2. The addition of smoke alarms and high-decibel horn alarms to the ATM rooms, thus making a break-in immediately obvious to the bank’s security department and painful to the robber's ears.
3. Adding an additional layer of protective armor to the ATM’s, themselves.
4. Requiring that the purchaser of any high technology cutting torch (e.g., The MAG9000) register their new torch as they would if they were purchasing explosives or a handgun.

 

Would the purchase registration of all high technology cutting torches be an abridgement of our freedoms?  No, it would only be the abridgement of freedom to those who rob banks and other cash-intensive businesses.

 

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By James McGillis at 07:44 PM | Technology | Comments (0) | Link