Internet Security and Programming

One of my sources, the other day, tipped me off that Citibank was in the process of replacing most of its automated teller machines (ATMs), but the source couldn’t definitively say why. Citibank told ATM & Debit News that it was replacing some 2,000 proprietary ATMs in “a bid to improve customer service.” But a story today by Wired.com reporter Kevin Poulsen suggests that the financial giant is responding to a computer intrusion into a Citibank server that processes ATM withdrawals, an incident that appears to have led to an ATM crime spree. From the story at Wired.com’s Threat Level Blog: “Citibank denied to Wired.com’s Threat Level that its systems were hacked. But the bank’s representatives warned the FBI on February 1 that “a Citibank server that processes ATM withdrawals at 7-Eleven convenience stores had been breached,” according to a sworn affidavit (.pdf) by FBI cyber-crime agent Albert Murray. [...]

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