Dear Mr Banker, Have You Considered an IP Camera?

Dear Mr. Banker,

I’m one of those people who actually bring my paycheck to your bank, to a real live teller every other Friday. And on non-paycheck Fridays, I use your ATM for a withdrawal. Most people I know opt for automatic payroll deposit but I like to see my money come and go.

I thought I was in the minority until I found an article in The Gallup Journal. When Gallup polled U.S. bank customers they found that 94% go to the bank, with 67% visiting at least once a month. Of those, 44% use the ATM at least once a month and 37% several times a month. The article does not go into why less than half use the machines. Perhaps it has to do with ATM fees or the convenience of paying with a debit card. Or maybe they’re just plain scared.

We all know ATM’s pose a threat for being robbed, being unmanned and available round the clock. And then, there’s identity theft to worry about.  In the last post of Kintronics blog by Virginia we delved into the crime of card skimming where criminals use high tech scanners to steal account information when a cardholder swipes his ATM card while a covert captures the keystrokes of his PIN.

Savvy managers like you know that banks need to stay ahead of crime so you can assure your customers they’ll be secure when using your ATM’s. And I’m here to tell you that IP cameras are perfect for round-the-clock monitoring no matter where they are.

in your lobby

 

a standalone

or a drive-thru

Police will tell you that one of the biggest challenges in apprehending ATM crime is coming up with usable video to identify criminals. So, many banks, maybe yours included, have been installing surveillance cameras at their ATM’s for years. But the problem is you’ve been using analog cameras. Analog cameras do not produce the sharply detailed images required for forensic investigations.




 But swapping them out for IP cameras will give you high resolution images that capture even the smallest details, and this will make for accurate identification.

There’s an IP camera to suit every ATM, no matter what its size of shape

• ·         HDTV cameras can give you coverage of the entire ATM with a wide 16:9 format.
• ·         Megapixel cameras can cover a large area that would require several analog cameras.
• ·         Discreet cameras can be concealed in an ATM to capture “face shots.”

IP cameras can overcome the lighting challenges presented by an ATM

• ·         Megapixel IP cameras with Wide Dynamic Range provide superb image quality in bright sunlight, under street illumination, or indoor florescent lighting. Even reflections pose no problem.
• ·         HDTV IP cameras with 720p or 1280x720 resolution and 16:9 wide screen format with back light compensation capture high clarity, detailed video.

There are several quality covert surveillance cameras available that can improve your ATM security but for this post, let’s look at the Axis Communications P-12 series of IP cameras.

Axis P-12 series

Tight spaces limit your choices for concealing a surveillance camera. That’s where covert models such as the flexible pinhole Axis P-1204 and P-1214 come in handy. 

It consists of a small pinhole sensor unit and a separate main unit holding all the intelligence, with a 26 foot cable to connect the two. Such a modular design allows it to fit where a conventional IP camera cannot. 

 So while the sensor unit with its 720p HDTV resolution and 3 mm lens is concealed in the wall of the ATM, the main unit placed inside the bank connects to the network like any conventional IP camera.

photo

Real Time Video

 Since the installation or retrieval of a skimming device can take place in the time it takes to withdraw cash, scoring real time video is of the essence.  Mounted at eye level, the P12 sensor unit with its 3mm lens will capture the criminal’s facial features from a natural angle, producing the perfect “face shot” in vertically-oriented video stream. Voila! The card skimmer is caught in the act, and the 720p HDTV resolution video sent to the police will make for a positive identification.

Bandwidth and Storage Considerations

You’re wondering about getting that video to the police? That’s another area in which IP cameras excel over analog. With an analog camera, someone would have to visit the site of the ATM to retrieve video from the DVR, but since an IP camera is network attached you can access the footage remotely.

Axis Corridor Format is perfect for the narrow areas typical of ATM’s, and the vertically-oriented video requires less bandwidth than landscape formats. So taken along with H.264 compression, you’re trimming your storage needs without compromising image quality. This makes for faster downloads too.

Or if you’d prefer edge storage, both the P1204 and P1214 as well as the P-1214-E with housing come with built-in slots for micro SD and micro SDHC chips. This comes in handy for backup if primary storage fails.

Compliance

What’s that you say? Oh yes, security. Banks do have IT security concerns, don’t they?

The P-12 guarantees IT security with HTTPS encryption and it complies with IEEE.802X standards. So you don’t have to worry about sensitive data being lost or stolen.And when it comes to protecting the privacy of law abiding customers, VMS software can blur facial features.

Well, Mr. Banker I’ll be on my way now, but I’ll leave you with this video link so you check out the

Axis P-12 IP Camera for yourself. 

And if you’d like more information it can be found at www.kintronics.com or you can call and speak to a Kintronics sales engineer at 914-944-3425. Or perhaps you’d prefer filling out an information request form so a sales engineer can contact you with the best solution.

What You Should Know About ATM Card Skimming

How many times have you heard someone say “I never buy anything online?  There’s too much identity theft on the Internet.”? Well, next time someone says that to you, you might want to tell him that he should be safe if he is doing business on a secure website, one whose URL begins with https If there is that s on the end he can be pretty comfortable that he is giving his credit card information to a secure site. 

Then ask him how comfortable he is swiping his debit card at the ATM. If he says "very”, tell him that according to the Secret Service, there were 350,000 cases of ATM fraud in 2008.That sounds like a lot, doesn't it? But wait, I left out two important words – a day. That’s right 350,000 cases a day and, 66% of the instances involved a practice known as card skimming.

Card Skimming

Card skimming is the process where the account information stored on the magnetic stripe of an ATM debit card is illegally copied while the rightful owner is using an ATM machine. The PIN number is obtained at the same time. The account information is then copied to a blank card and the cloned card is used along with the stolen PIN to withdraw money from the victim’s account and/or make unauthorized purchases. Creative skimmers devised a scheme to upload the information onto blank gift cards so as to avoid merchant suspicion.

The cost of card skimming is not confined to cardholders. The Secret Service, in another report estimates banks lose over $1 billion dollars annually to ATM skimming. And the problem is growing; the number of cases banks reported to the Secret Service from 2008 to 2010 grew by 10% a year. And if you combine ATM skimming with the skimming of credit cards at points of purchase, the Secret Service estimates that card fraud costs individuals and businesses over $8 billion annually.

At the ATM

In preparation, a skimming criminal needs to install two pieces of equipment at the ATM site:

·         a card skimmer

·         a pinhole camera

Card Skimmer

Card skimmers are sophisticated scanners that contain a magnetic stripe reader to extract the information stored on the stripe each time an unsuspecting cardholder swipes his card.  Some skimmers can hold as many as 2,000 swipes.

By the very nature of the beast, a skimmer must blend in with the legitimate card scanner. Most are made of molded plastic or metal manufactured to the same texture and color as the sponsoring bank’s decor, and placed over the bank’s equipment at the mouth of the card slot. There is a whole international Internet community devoted to counterfeit equipment bearing the logo of major ATM manufacturers like Diebold and NCR.

Most skimmers incorporate flash memory to store the stolen data. And here’s where the criminals get even more inventive. Rather than risk coming back to retrieve the memory, some have installed a 3G transmitter to relay the information over a cellular network in batches  Others send an SMS text to the criminal’s cellphone to notify him each time a card is swiped.  Keeping up with technology, some crooks are using blue-tooth- enabled skimmers to download the account info in real-time. And in order to avoid a worst case scenario, some have gone as far as equipping their skimmers with an alarm that can alert them if the device is removed so they can download the information immediately.

PIN-Purloining Pinhole Cameras

Account information without a personal identification number (PIN) is of no use to skimming criminals since there would be no way to access the account.  So they have installed covert cameras to hover over the ATM’s  keypad to capture the PIN as the cardholder enters it.

Since the key here is to make the cameras invisible, the smallest of pinhole cameras are the instruments of choice. Some are embedded in false overlays made to blend in with the ATM’s structure. If there is a brochure rack or deposit slips adjacent to the ATM, all the better as it makes for a convenient hiding spot. Sophisticated crooks use cameras attached to the skimmer allowing it to be activated each time a card is swiped.

Keypad Overlay

Another method of stealing a PIN is to attach a keypad overlay. The overlay itself is very thin and similar in feel to the keys and fits inside a dummy metal frame custom made for the ATM model. When a cardholder types in her PIN, the fake key depresses the real key and the ATM responds as usual. The only difference is that each key press has been stored on a local memory chip along with a time stamp.

$$$ - Bank Theft vs Card Skimmers

Although the general public is accustomed to hearing of bank robberies on the news or watching movies centered around them, card-skimming is relatively unknown.  Yet it dwarfs robbery in loss. The American Bankers Association puts the average amount yielded to a bank robber at $5,000, in what is usually a one-time occurrence.
Card-skimming, on the other hand is clandestine and accumulative.  Once installed, a skimmer will stay in place until it is physically detected or until a bank traces customers reports of criminal activity and traces it back to a particular ATM.  According to the same ABA spokesman, one skimmer can net a criminal an average of $50,000.

Surveillance Measures:  IP Cameras vs. Analog

So what can banks do? Faced with the fact that a skilled criminal can attach a skimmer in the time that it takes to make a withdrawal, banks are installing surveillance cameras in their lobbies and standalone ATM kiosks in hopes of catching him in the act. However if a bank installs analog cameras, the resolution of the resulting video can lack sufficient clarity for positive identification .

Using a high resolution IP camera would definitely improve the chances of a positive identification that would hold up in court.

Forensic analysis can be slow, difficult and costly when the camera is analog since the recorded video is stored on site to a local DVR. Remember – analog cameras are shackled by coaxial cable so a trip to remote locations must be made to retrieve needed footage.

But switch to an IP camera and the stored video is  easily accessible and can ready to share due to its being network attached.

Now that we know about card-skimming, our next post will explore an IP camera solution that can attack the growing problem.

Personal Precautions

Meanwhile, here are some tips to keep you from becoming a victim of skimming.

•         Do not use an ATM if there is any extraneous equipment nearby or it somehow looks different.
•          Before fully inserting your ATM card, wiggle the entry point to see if it’s been tampered with.
•          Cover your hand and the keypad when entering your PIN.
•          Immediately eject your card if the keys are not concave or feel stiff.
•          Do not use if people are hanging around.
•          Monitor your account online daily and your bank statements monthly

And to sum it all up - Be Suspicious.

If you'd like more information about IP cameras, you can visit http://www.kintronics.com/neteye/neteye.html  or call Kintronics at 914-944-3425 to speak to a sales engineer. Or if you prefer,just fill out an information request form.