Skimming protection

[London1826]

Information about methods and systems of protection of ATMs a great variety in the public domain, an inquisitive mind has long found everything read and wound on the mustache. To my regret 90% coming in skimming individuals were deprived of mind and not far are gone from our ancestors monkeys, and if be precise head have intended only to wear hat and in it eat. So often account for to hear many obtuse issues and narratives about fantastic systems protection caused by technical not literacy either inflammation of in the parts of heads where usually is located the brain.
Okay not let us deal in causes human stupidity.

I will analyze the example of SPS from the company NCR, similar solutions are used by other companies manufacturers of ATMs, as well as companies engaged in the development of anti-skimming protections, other names, but the principle is the same-no one likes to reinvent the wheel twice.

ATM itself is not a cheap toy and its means of protection is also not cheap, for example, the noise generator from the company TDM costs about $ 2000, so the ATM protection system depends only on the pocket of the banker and his desire to protect himself and is not related to the novelty of the ATM model, so you can find a fairly new ATM in which you can stuff nails, and quite ancient protected as Fort Knox...

SPS-skimming protection solution from NCR company consists of 4 degrees of protection against various attacks on the ATM and can be used both in a complex and separately.

1. Detection of unusual objects located near the reader.

Reports the presence of these objects
Reports failures or attempts to disable this system.
Displays ATM in out of services if cardholder data is at risk (depending on configuration)

2. Electromagnetic noise at the frequency of reading magnetic information around the input to the reader.

Reports failures or attempts to disable this system.

3. Detection and the message on opening the door of the ATM.

4. The detection and reporting of drilling machine.

Now let us consider in order what it is.

Detection-the detection loop works by measuring the capacitive field around the card's input into the reader. Constantly monitors this field for changes that may indicate that an object has been placed next to the input. The reaction time is from 30 seconds to 3 minutes depending on the settings that the service personnel will make.

As you understand from the description, this protection is designed to find overhead skimmers, but its drawback is that it reacts to precipitation, such as rain and snow, so in most street ATMs it is not applied or automatically turns off during the rain (depends on the settings that the service personnel will make).

Frequency noise-generate an electromagnetic field, which leads to the fact that when recording data using the so-called flash skimmers, information is not decoded, or not recorded at all.

With this protection, I think everything is clear - the noise generator at the frequency of the signal written on the magnetic tape. Easily bypassed with audio chips either shielding in overhead skimmers or internal skimmers.


Door opening alarm - can be connected to the door switch or integrated with the supervisor circuit via the input signal. Then can report the position of the upper door.

Here I also think, everything is clear - it's the usual alarm system as you have on your home door reed switch and a magnet. You can bypass fixing a powerful magnet in the location of the sensor, to test for vulnerability did not happen, it is possible to assemble according to the scheme "trap" then-Hello family, but in practice rarely had to meet specialists who know about this Assembly, so go for it.


Anti-drilling protection-an optional drilling sensor can be installed behind the input / output slot of the card reader. It is used for detection and alerting, attempts to drill a hole through the rail with the intention of locking the internal skimmer on the reader, or with the intention of disabling the detection or disruption functions.

Here, too, everything is simple-the usual vibration sensor, which is used in weapons safes and cash vaults on the walls. It will be difficult to bypass this device, since everything depends on the sensitivity that the installer will expose, at a high threshold, you can glue the Vibroplast at the drilling site and drill at low speeds.

Also used are the so-called jitter or interupter-these are devices that connect to the motor of a motorized reader and slow down or interrupt the movements of the card.
Modern msr and asr easily deal with the problem of reading at low speeds as well as interrupts.

I also want to note that jitters and interupters as well as interference generators are disabled after closing the shutter of the shatter at the entrance of the card into the reader, so these types of protections can not resist internal skimmers.

As you already understood, the main emphasis in protection is made on counteraction of overhead skimmers.

NCR tried to defeat the internal skimmers by releasing firmware APTRA XFS 06.05, but lost in this opposition, this protection is easily bypassed by adding magnetic tape to the internal skimmer.

Admitting defeat in August 2018, NCR issued a recommendation to install mechanical protection in readers.

Mechanical protection from NCR

Razor 1-pad mounted on a metal rail in the recess for which cling internal skimmers

Razor 2-antimagnetic pad on the metal rail to protect against internal skimmers fixed with magnets, as well as mechanically.

Dispenses with special modifications of the internal skimmers, clinging to other parts of the reader.

Another manufacturer of mechanical protection and not only is the company TDM, which has released a whole line of CPP (card protection plate) for various readers of the most widespread ATMs such as Diebold, NCR, Hitachi, Nautilus, Wincor.
The meaning of the work is very simple-removes the internal space of the reader in which the internal skimmer is usually located.

In the hands of hold data plate not avea, but met figures, which pull out their from reader under aid a special device, so as mounting it miracle under aid flimsy tin cans on one bolt.

At the last presentation dedicated to skimming protection, NCR announced the release of a new modification of the motorized reader from Sankyo, in the new modification the plastic rail is changed and the internal space is reduced thereby the location of the internal skimmer is removed, as well as the size of the pre-reader slot for protection from the so-called slit skimmers is reduced.

Just recently caught the eye of a novelty from, if I'm not mistaken, the Spanish company in the field of security, which in its set of anti-skimming protection, in addition to the above generators and detectors overhead skimmers added capacitive protection against internal skimmers installed in smart readers (readers without a motor), for motorized readers such protection is technically very difficult to implement because of the configuration of the reader.
Since the novelty is only a few months old to test how and what it reacts to and how to get around-there was no opportunity, I hope soon we will pick what kind of animal it is.

Still saw complexes protection in which aside from higher listed includes capacitive detectors, which establish on domestic surfaces ATM, in places fastening cameras for records pincodes. When placing the object in the location of the sensor within 30 seconds to 3 minutes sends the ATM out of service and sends a message to the Bank. I think from the description it is clear how to detect the presence of this protection, well, manages the position of the camera in a different place.

There are situations when the ATM goes out of service when installing the internal skimmer, this is not due to the notorious skimming protection, but to the wrong configuration of the skimmer, which causes an error, the ATM reboots and continues to work with the skimmer installed inside. The message is sent to the Bank or not to check did not happen, but the fact that it gets into the event log 100%.

In General, the confrontation continues and there will be no end to it.