Exploiting bugs in two different ATM machines, the researcher from IOActive was able to get them to spit out money on demand and record sensitive data from the cards of people who used them.
He showed the attacks on two systems he had purchased himself -- the type of generic ATM machines typically found in bars and convenience stores. Criminals have been hitting this type of machine for years, using ATM skimmers to record card data and PIN numbers, or in some cases simply pulling up a truck and hauling the machines away.
Patches have already been developed for the systems, built by ATM-makers Triton and and Tranax, Jack said. Triton patched the issue in November 2009, said Bob Douglas, Triton's vice president of engineering.
Douglas showed up at Black Hat to attend the talk and a subsequent press conference. Tranax could not immediately be reached for comment.
Tranax has had security problems before. In 2006, CNN reported that a Virginia Beach, Virginia, criminal used a keypad code to reprogram a Tranax machine into thinking it was dispensing $5 bills. Then, using an anonymous prepaid debit card, he withdrew $20 bills, but was only debited for one-quarter of the money he took. A manual showing how to do this, was reportedly available on the web.