Some ATMs to be exposed to security breaches

By Yi Whan-woo

Automated teller machines (ATMs) powered by Microsoft’s Windows XP will be exposed to security threats after the U.S. firm ends its support of the decade-old operating system (OS) on April 8.

Experts and financial regulators are urging banks to upgrade their OS immediately but it is unlikely that they will be able to by that date, after which they won’t get patches designed to protect them from new hacking methods and other bugs.

“It is impossible to prevent all malicious attempts made by hackers once Microsoft ends support for XP and stops offering patches,” said AhnLab, a Seoul-based antivirus software company.

“The hackers may take advantage of the vulnerability of the platform and develop malware or spyware to penetrate into the networks of companies that use XP.”

The Seoul office of Microsoft voiced similar concerns.

“Since 2002, we have maintained a support policy under which we provide security support for 10 years after the OS was introduced. Windows XP has already passed such a period,” a company spokesman said.

“The patches we develop for XP play a limited role in protecting computers or other types of terminals from malware threats,” he added. Windows XP was introduced in 2001.

“Windows XP is now comparable to a very old house with a weak frame and also shuttered windows everywhere. I’d say developing patches for such an OS is like covering those windows with cloth to prevent storms sweeping the house away,” he added.

The latest data by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) showed 97.6 percent of the 80,712 ATMS nationwide were powered by Windows XP or older versions of the OS last year. The FSS encouraged banks to replace the platforms for their ATMs with newer versions.

“We instructed banks to replace their ATMs OS with one of the upgraded versions — Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8,” an IT security team official at the FSS said. “We have asked them to submit a replacement plan.”

Major lenders have been slow in upgrading their ATMs with the latest version.

Kookmin, Woori, Shinhan and Hana said that they will replace their OS in a gradual manner despite the April 8 deadline.