ATMs could be vulnerable to computer worms

NORTH CANTON, Ohio, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- Diebold, an Ohio-based company that makes ATM machines has said that all ATMs should be installed with firewall software to avoid security breaches.

A computer worm named Welchia shut down the Diebold cash dispensing ATMs at two U.S. financial institutions last August, New Scientist reported Wednesday.

Diebold does not know how the worm got on to a closed financial network, but other security experts suggest any system on a network or the Internet can be vulnerable.

"Are they running a popular operating system?" asked David Loomstein, of Symantec's computer security response team in Santa Monica, Calif. "Are they sitting on the internet or a network? If yes, then there is always the possibility of access."

In the Welchia case, the worm known as Nochi, shut down the ATMs because of the traffic generated by the worm trying to contact other machines.

To infect the ATMs, Welchia exploited a vulnerability in Windows XP called RPC DCOM, New Scientist said.

Diebold adapted Microsoft's RPC DCOM patch for its ATM machines and offered it to its clients, but the two financial institutions did not apply the patch and were infected, Diebold spokesperson Mike Jacobsen told New Scientist.