Researchers show ATM theft by thermal imaging

"Irregardless" is not a word! Just "regardless" works perfectly fine!

"The PIN is captured irregardless."

Irregardless isn't a word.

Is it just me, or is grammar and spelling in general really declining?

ATM theft by thermal imaging

Now that is clever. And here's an idea how to make it a lot cheaper and less obvious than with a thermal imaging camera:

After the person has left walk over and place a pad with 9 electric thermometer units over the keypad. Something like this could probably be built for under 20 dollars and be sensitive enough to get a good reading in a few seconds.

Yes, you'll still not have the exact number sequence but you'll have the numbers. And from then on there are only 24 combinations left to try (since you can try 2 per day that should give you a correct hit, on average, after 6 days. Or if you like to have your cash immediately that would, at 3 tries until your card gets revoked, give you a successfull hit for every 8th PIN you swipe. More often if any of the numbers repeat)

With a bit of finesse for the algorithm you can probably reduce the number of tries even further, since the first number you press should cool down faster than the last number. In the picture above that doesn't give you the exact sequence but in both examples the 'later' numbers are, on average, 'hotter' than the numbers at the beginning of the sequence.

Listing the sequence of 4 digit numbers in order of probability (coldest to hottest) with subsequent sequences substituting digits based on magnitude of temperature differential between them this should be able to cut down the number of average tries needed by half if not more.

I think I saw something similar on MacGyver in the 1980s.

This would be great for finding the pin for a door or other entry secured with a key pad but there is still a major problem with this at an ATM... you have to have the CARD that the last person used. You can punch in pin numbers all day on an ATM but with out the card it goes with you're SOL.

And, if you are criminal enough to steal the card from someone I would imagine you are bad enough to make them just tell you the number.

you have to have the CARD that the last person used.

Nope. All you have to have is the magnetic code on the card and then make a copy on a blank card.

There are very simple ways to swipe the code. The cheapest way I've seen uses the head of an old casette recorder mounted inside the slit and transmitting the generated 'sounds' to a receiver which can be on the other side of the road.

The whole setup is as flat as a postage stamp and completely unobtrusive (you don't even need to mount a fake front to the ATM - just stick it to the inside of the card slot)

This is why some ATMs have started to
a) have transparent plastic covers in unsusal shapes (so that you see any extra devices and can't easily manufacture a fake front)
b) Erratically draw your card in so that you don't get a linear reading on the magnetic strip (this, however, can be overcome with a bit of programming)
c) incorporate additional chips on the card (but I think these have already been broken, too)

"The PIN is captured irregardless."

Irregardless isn't a word.

Is it just me, or is grammar and spelling in general really declining?

OH MY! HOW TERRIBLE!!!!!!
......did you get the point of the article, by chance....maybe...hummmm?
(just doing some scientific research on the advancing boiling point of our elite grammar and syntax posting monitors and their genetics in the internet age...!)
word-to-ya-muthas

ATM theft by thermal imaging

Now that is clever. And here's an idea how to make it a lot cheaper and less obvious than with a thermal imaging camera:
After the person has left walk over and place a pad with 9 electric thermometer units over the keypad. Something like this could probably be built for under 20 dollars and be sensitive enough to get a good reading in a few seconds.
Yes, you'll still not have the exact number sequence but you'll have the numbers. And from then on

How criminally ingenious you are...now, this thermal thing is only 20% effective after 90 seconds. I can't do my transaction that fast! SO once I am finished, I have entered my pin AND MADE SEVERAL SUPERFLUOUS SELECTIONS...I will be certain, just for u..to LEAN ON THE KEY PAD with my butt so that you can get a thermal image of what I want u 2 kiss...as D cops haul u off 2 jail..where u become some man's boyfriend. I can see the headlines, BUTT GLOW CATCHES BAD ASS!

word-to-ya-muthas

90 seconds is longer than you might think (if you just do a withdrawal you're gone from an ATM about 30 seconds after you enter the PIN).

But the current trick seems to be to attach a small camera unobtrusively above the keypad or on the ceiling/wall close to the ATM. This is why you are instructed to shield you hand when you enter your PIN. But since you don't shield it after you've enterd your pin a thermal camera could (if placed correctly) read your pin even while you are still busy conducting your withdrawal.

Best one I've seen was reported from a black hat conference. Someone just set up a complete fake ATM in the lobby of the conference hotel. Nabbed quite a few number of PINs and bar codes before it was discovered that it wasn't legit.

How criminally ingenious you are...

If I can think of this stuff in 5 minutes then others can, too. This is why I deal in cash. Only. Cards aren't safe.

This is why I deal in cash. Only. Cards aren't safe.

Wonder if "Cash Back" purchases are any safer at local retailers?

clever, but i dont think you even need an industrial strength IR camera, one could put very tiny drops of a gel like substance on the keys (tiny enough to go unnoticed for the unsuspicious eye/touch) and as the next in line you just check with a cheap magnifying glass wich keys are still sprinkled/undisturbed), would also work with fluorescent powder and you have these pocket blacklights to see what powder got disturbed.

I have entered my pin AND MADE SEVERAL SUPERFLUOUS SELECTIONS

This is a good idea anyways - I do this under my hand in case I am being surveilled.

Oh and 'u' is not a word.

If I can think of this stuff in 5 minutes then others can, too. This is why I deal in cash. Only. Cards aren't safe.

I had a few 100 dollars charged to my visa last spring. The only thing I was charged was $20 for a new #.

However a few years ago I found $135 in cash on the floor at the mall. Cash is not safe.

Are we now refudiating irregardless? Oh gawd! My spell checker took "irregardless". I'm glad I'm on my way out.

To thwart such an attempt, touch two or three extra numbers.

I suppose if banks wanted a comical fix for this, they could just heat the entire keypad.

1) push the buttons with something other than your fingers (key, pen, etc.)

2) rest your hand on ALL the keys (either before or after entering the number)

3) loiter for a moment (and a half)

4) pretend you're OCD and wipe the keys all off with an alcohol pad, both before and after use (may not be a bad idea, actually)

5) wear gloves

clever, but i dont think you even need an industrial strength IR camera, one could put very tiny drops of a gel like substance on the keys (tiny enough to go unnoticed for the unsuspicious eye/touch) and as the next in line you just check

The problem with this (and my idea of using thermo-sensors) is that you actually need to be at the machine to record the PIN. Most all ATMs are fitted with cameras (notice the green LEDs that are mostly mounted at the head of the machine. They light your face up. In the middle is a pin camera. ATMs at a bank will pobably be surveilled by additional cameras) so it will be easy to trace back who was next in line.

The bank just has to check all the pictures of transactions before the card is used fraudulently. This will give them a number of mugshots of people next in line. Now they check if these shots match those of people next in line of others whose card details have been stolen.

Hand found matches over to the police. Game over.

lol...this was used in the video game "splinter cell"
http://www.visual...a/36.jpg

ATM theft by thermal imaging

Now that is clever. And here's an idea how to make it a lot cheaper and less obvious than with a thermal imaging camera:

After the person has left walk over and place a pad with 9 electric thermometer units over the keypad. Something like this could probably be built for under 20 dollars and be sensitive enough to get a good reading in a few seconds.

Yes, you'll still not have the exact number sequence but you'll have the numbers. And from then on there are only 24 combinations left to try (since you can try 2 per day that should give you a correct hit, on average, after 6 days. Or if you like to have your cash immediately that would, at 3 tries until your card gets revoked, give you a successfull hit for every 8th PIN you swipe. More often if any of the numbers repeat)

Pin pad overlays are already much simpler, and wireless to boot.

The bank just has to check all the pictures of transactions before the card is used fraudulently. This will give them a number of mugshots of people next in line. Now they check if these shots match those of people next in line of others whose card details have been stolen.

That's why people who steal out of ATMs typically wear disguises. Game back on.

"The PIN is captured irregardless."

Irregardless isn't a word.

Is it just me, or is grammar and spelling in general really declining?

It's just you.

I have entered my pin AND MADE SEVERAL SUPERFLUOUS SELECTIONS

This is a good idea anyways - I do this under my hand in case I am being surveilled.

Oh and 'u' is not a word.

If I can think of this stuff in 5 minutes then others can, too. This is why I deal in cash. Only. Cards aren't safe.

I had a few 100 dollars charged to my visa last spring. The only thing I was charged was $20 for a new #.

However a few years ago I found $135 in cash on the floor at the mall. Cash is not safe.

It's safe if you're not an idiot and lose it.