CONVENIENCE is what makes automated teller machines (ATMs) of banks so popular. They have revolutionised the way retail banking is conducted, minimising the human interface and increasing the hours to an unrestricted 24/7 format. The machine’s constant evolution has meant that today, the individual customer is able to accomplish nearly all payment transactions via ATM without having to handle any cash; transfers from one account to another, even inter-bank, make this possible. In turn, this means that ATMs are the gateway to millions in cash, and all thanks to computerisation, which has improved the speed of connectivity to real time, that is, instant. Like the telephone conversation that occurs over long distances without delay because of digitalisation, the same is true of data processing. Huge volumes of data move from one point to the next worldwide, probably in less than a blink of an eye.
Unfortunately, where there is lots of money, there are enough thieves trying to access it. And, ATMs have long been a challenge to those who, in days gone by, would have physically robbed banks. But not the contemporary and cyber-savvy thieves. Already, three banks have lost a total of some RM3 million over a matter of days through ATM hacking in the country. As with all computers, including those of the Pentagon, where the United States military’s secrets are stored, hacking is not a remote possibility. Hacking, a way to break into a secure computer link, has been happening ever since computerisation became the be-all and end-all of human existence. Computer geniuses have made it their life’s purpose to disprove notions of invulnerability more as a challenge, rather than necessarily criminal intent. However, by the same token, criminals will avail themselves of a system’s vulnerability. And this was what had happened, when Latin American hacker-thieves arrived in Malaysia, relieving ATMs of cash.
It would be silly to believe that banks are not reacting enough to this kind of theft. After all, the worldwide hacking of ATMs has, globally, caused losses amounting to RM147.8 million. Complacency is, then, not an option. Banks are replacing old ATMs with state-of-the-art versions, but as the banks in China have demonstrated, the human element is what ups the ante, as far as thieves are concerned. ATMs are placed in the secure halls of banks — replete with convex mirrors to make possible a rear view when operating the machines, emergency telephones, restricted entry, well-lit and more — accessible 24/7 and with at least one armed security personnel; the human factor. Technology, being man-made, cannot be impenetrable to tampering. There is always a mind able to unravel whatever default security system is put in by the manufacturers. And, too, to presume that security is beefed up only in crime-prone areas is a fallacy; the lure is the money. Like the bear is to honey, so, too, are thieves to money.