Last year more than 18,700 attacks were reported on Europe’s ATMs - that’s nearly 1 in 20 ATMs impacted by security breaches and that doesn’t include those that go unreported.

As the demand for cash remains strong and with self-service devices being the favoured source, it’s clear that a robust approach to security is vital in order to protect both brand reputation and consumer confidence alike.

Whether it’s a physical, fraudulent or logical attack, criminals have developed methods which can cause significant losses (and not to mention damage) in a matter of minutes. With criminal attacks becoming more sophisticated, what can financial institutions and independent ATM deployers do to provide safe 24/7 access to cash?

Self-assessment

The best place to start is with a clear view on what security measures are currently in place and overlaying this with the different scenarios that could expose particular vulnerabilities. By focusing on the weak spots, banks and independent ATM deployers will be much more effective in planning for current and future vulnerabilities.

Security breaches can be very costly to brand reputation, especially as the scope widens from physical manipulation (such as card skimming and cash-card trapping) to more sophisticated software-based ATM crimes. They can also cause significant disruption to customer service, so building the right security infrastructures is crucial to maintaining what is an essential front line customer service.

Collaborate

As threats become more sophisticated, it’s also essential that financial institutions and ATM deployers work together with their suppliers and partners to build a coordinated plan to protect their end-to-end operations.

Staying up-to-date and informed about the latest threats as well as using global insights and experience to inform decisions around security will ensure robust planning to protect not just the ATM, but the entire ecosystem around it. Adopting such a holistic approach to security is vital to protect from all forms of threat.

Be vigilant

Existing security threats evolve rapidly and new forms of threat will continue to emerge. It’s critically important to use your industry knowledge and experience to try and keep ahead of the criminals. Creating strong infrastructures around existing ATM networks and ensuring that security remains a key part of operational risk planning is equally important. Reporting all suspicious incidents can also help to prevent trends from developing, averting the potential for similar future events.

The good news is that whilst criminals attacks have become more sophisticated, so too has the technology we have at our disposal to help prevent attacks being successful. By working together as an industry, sharing insights and information as well as maintaining a consistent focus on security related issues, we can work to combat the criminals of the future.