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You can bank on this

Threats and risks in the financial sector are relatively cyclical. There has been an upsurge in ATM bombings and theft from bank clientele using ATMs in the past 18 months. Fraud continues to be a thorn in the sector’s side. This overt shift in modus operandi can be attributed in part to the effectiveness of security campaigns to reduce cash in transit heists. Hi-Tech Security Solutions takes a look at market counter-measures.

Roy Alves, country manager for Axis Communications, said that on a global basis, ATM manufacturers are driving development of new technologies to fight crime and fraud but criminals are always one step ahead.

Alves pointed out that a few years ago card skimming from ATMs was the biggest threat, but as technology evolved, it has decreased and cash trapping is the new drug of choice. “Inferior video coverage has played a major role in aggravating this. Many security surveillance systems owned by banks are outdated and not prioritised as capex-worthy. This has resulted in a disgruntled client base, which has driven a trend whereby banks are electing to invest in new technology that allows them to integrate surveillance with alarms.”

Alves added that legislation is another major driving factor in technology change. “As the campaign to provide both data protection and privacy protection accelerates, we are seeing several countries putting legislation into place that promotes IP video.

“Spain and a number of other European countries recently passed a law stating that all remote ATMs are required to institute video for identification. This specification essentially means that IP becomes the only choice. ATM manufacturers like Diebold and Wincor are working to making the ATMs smarter by adding analytics where they need IP video,” Alves explained.

“All over the world Arecont Vision is definitely seeing more projects with banks requesting pristine video of outdoor ATM blocks and indoor teller areas. Also, the challenges associated with bright light through background windows have made the recent launch of our WDR (Wide Dynamic Range) camera extremely important; objects and faces that were drowned out by the light are now clearly captured,” said Ethan Maxon, regional director for the southern hemisphere at Arecont Vision.

“Typically our customers are deploying a combination of megapixel camera types: 180 panoramic technology for general views along with single-sensor cameras for specific areas (that is, entry doors, facial recognition, etc). The result translates into a system design using fewer cameras at dramatically higher resolutions, ending in a much lower total solution cost.”

Hands up, or down

In the mid 1990s there was a lot of hype around the implementation of biometric readers at ATMs. “In 1996, Diebold installed the first biometric system at a single ATM in South Africa. However, adoption of the technology was slow, with suspicion of the system’s integral security having an overriding influence on its acceptance,” said Alves.

“In recent years though, we have seen a growing approval from the market as the benefits and evolution of biometric technology become evident. Biometrics, with palm-scanning technology, is a secure form of card-less ATM transacting. Users need to preregister and associate their finger and palm print with a profile that could, for example, include their pin number and birth date,” Alves explained.

Asia, Taiwan and Japan were the first countries out of the starting blocks with Fujitsu and Hitachi systems now becoming standard features at a growing number of ATMs. “The European market has already seen the benefits of adopting biometric technology for ATM transacting, with a bank in Turkey implementing the technology in over 1500 of its ATMs.”

Alves pointed out that biometric readers at ATMs normally combine dual access, so users can choose between using their ATM card or their finger/handprint.

Another trend discussed by Alves in card-less ATM technology is the use of a mobile phone. “Instead of entering a card into the ATM, one simply enters a code, that is generated through an application in your mobile phone, to withdraw cash from your account. Examples of banks using this are The Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest, with their GetCash app.

“In Europe, technology has advanced to a stage where clients transact at contactless ATMs. Instead of inserting your ATM card into the machine, you simply wave it in front of the ATM,” added Alves.

Alves maintains that while card-less technology is admittedly beneficial in the fight against card skimming and other types of fraud, there will always be a need for video for identification. “We are constantly improving technology to address ATM issues. Behavioural analysis trends and trip wires allow security personnel to monitor and address any breaches.”

Pick a card

According to Simeon Tassev, MD of Galix Networking, the biggest threats facing card transactions are online fraud and unauthorised use. “Skimming, or theft of credit card information at ATMs, continues to frustrate consumers. Similarly, the theft of credit card information to perform online transactions has become a serious bone of contention.

“It is critical to protect cardholder data and how you do this depends on the type of fraud perpetrated. We find that South Africa lags behind First World companies in adoption of suitable technology because of the costs involved,” said Tassev.

“One instance of creative solution-finding is the use of mobile credit card machines. On a cautionary note, however, this is of little value if users and patrons are not educated on the insistence that the machine is brought to customer for transaction.

“Our online banking fraud preventative measures are in many instances considered leading-edge. The use of one-time pins and SMS notifications have made big inroads into delaying the onslaught of online criminals. Likewise, the development of credit cards containing pin-driven microchips is definitely innovation at work.”

There is an ongoing race to invent new technologies to counter credit card fraud. Similarly, there is an ongoing race to thwart these technologies. “Fortunately, because South African consumers are keen to adopt new technology and systems that will protect their assets, the upper hand is often held by the crime-fighting forces,” said Tassev.

Galix Networking, after an arduous accreditation process, was recently certified as a Payment Card Industry (PCI) Quality Security Assessor (QSA) partner. This allows the company to assess compliance to the PCI Data Security Standard (DSS). Merchants and service providers are obliged to fulfil the 12, irrefutable requirements to provide peace of mind for payment card holders. Amongst these predefined points are building and maintaining a secure network, implementing strong access control measures and instituting and maintaining a vulnerability management programme.

Tassev cautioned that the risks in credit card fraud are determined by socio-economic factors as well as technology and business practices. “The solution is not a silver bullet since many companies, by virtue of their endemic operational philosophies and regulations, cannot implement all the countermeasures being developed. Therefore, each case should be assessed individually and adjusted accordingly.”

Tassev sees the risk landscape changing as technology evolves. “More companies are now developing systems and apps for smartphones. Users of this technology have expressed their concern around the integrity of data when transacting. There was previously nothing written in the PCI standard around smartphone transacting. The recently released PCI Mobile Payment Acceptance Security Guidelines have been developed to provide customer assurance.

“It is essential that technology developers proactively devise solutions to potential new risks and mitigate against them expeditiously as the environment continues to increase in complexity,” he concluded.

Ecobank makes the smart choice

West African Ecobank is extremely fast growing, with the number of branches blossoming by over 90% between 2010 and 2011. Headquartered in Ghana, with coverage in over 22 African countries, this financial dynamo quickly realised the need for careful control of its surveillance systems. The requirements were for a single platform to both record footage and predict incidents that could be deployed without impacting heavily on the bank’s critical IP infrastructure.

In August 2011, VideoIQ was selected to provide Ecobank with over 750 VideoIQ cameras. “The client expressed a need to standardise on the surveillance systems across their branches and to ultimately achieve centralised monitoring of the branches across a network,” said VideoIQ’s Andrew Page Wood.

VideoIQ provides a range of intelligent indoor and outdoor surveillance systems. The systems have onboard recording, which obviates the need for DVRs. In addition, bandwidth optimisation is maximised and data costs are therefore reduced by programming cameras to react-and-relay, based on predefined predictive events.

“VideoIQ systems eliminate the risks associated with downtime and, since cameras are networked, prevents loss of footage,” said Page Wood. Intelligence is the hallmark of VideoIQ, with each individual camera programmed with specific parameters that create a sequence of responses based on the early identification of a possible threat and an easily searchable events database

Page Wood explained that the project, which began rolling out in July 2012, will provide customised monitoring of Ecobanks ATMs, banking halls and vaults.

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