No loot, no crime
ATMs are still attacked almost daily, resulting in considerable damage.
Banks are taking far-reaching and drastic measures that are causing criminals to use increasingly heavy means, resulting in an arms race between banks and explosive crackers.
In this article, you will learn how this arms race can be broken by removing the expectation of booty. Money is a big attraction for criminals.
Always have and as long as there is money in circulation, it will stay that way.
In the mid-1960s, there were first major bank robberies in the Netherlands.
At that time, banks were not secured at all.
You could walk right in.
No bars, no bulletproof glass and no alarm system.
On Friday, wages were paid in cash.
It wasn’t until the 1970s that serious security measures were introduced: armoured glass, an alarm system and buttons for alerting the police immediately.
Still, that didn’t stop the criminals.
In 1990, there were as many as 400 bank robberies.
From then on, the bank decided to change its strategy.
Employees of the bank could no longer access large amounts of money; They could only spend a limited amount of money at the counter.
There was also a time delay on the safes.
Then the number of bank robberies decreased rapidly.
In the meantime, there is hardly any cash available at the bank branches; the ATM has taken over this function.
The above history teaches us that the cat-and-mouse game with criminals is only broken when there is no longer any expectation of loot.
This can be done by taking the money away (as in the bank branches), but also by irreversibly mutilating money in the event of a robbery, making it worthless to a criminal.
The latter is done with the so-called explosive cases, a development of Mactwin from the 80s.
The cash-in-transit sector opted en masse for the use of explosive cases (MactwinBoxes).
The number of robberies dropped drastically here as well.
Heavy attacks on ATMs
At the moment, ATMs are in the spotlight of criminals.
Where the attacks first took place with gas – a scenario that was first applied about 10 years ago – criminals now also use solid explosives.
The attacks are accompanied by such violence that not only does the ATM fly into the air, but the building is also badly damaged.
The dangers to local residents are considerable.
It is therefore logical that banks are diligently looking for a solution that really discourages criminals.
Irreversible cash degradation is the only effective solution
Mactwin believes that removing the expectation of loot through irreversible depreciation of the money is the only effective solution to stop this criminal scenario as well.
Ink is the most well-known mutilation method to date.
However, we see that ink is not sufficiently effective.
Money coloured with ink is still being spent and accepted.
“We are convinced that a banknote is only worthless if its physical properties are irreversibly impaired, in such a way that the mutilated notes are not accepted anywhere as a means of payment,” said Robin Bijland, Chief Technology Officer at Mactwin.
“In close collaboration with various stakeholders from the industry, we have developed an entirely new mutilation method for ATM cash cassettes: glue.
In the event of an attack on the ATM, our product glues, GlueFusion, the banknotes in a cash cassette are attached to each other within the shortest time. A ‘brick’ of banknotes is created. If someone tries to untie them, they will tear. What’s left are shreds. The specially developed adhesive cannot be dissolved or removed in other ways and the mutilation is therefore irreversible. A brick or shreds of banknotes will never be accepted. By no one. And not by payment terminals either. By using GlueFusion, it no longer makes any sense to attack ATMs.”
Future
By using irreversible cash degradation, the number of attacks on ATMs will be drastically reduced and the criminal will look for new targets.
It is expected that his field of activity will shift further to cybercrime.
Organisations will therefore have to invest heavily in improving their digital resilience in the coming years.