Windows to Power ATM's in 2005

[Timothy M. Lyons]

Ack!  Time to put the money back under the mattress!
Just imagine the posible impact of the first big MS worm of 2005...

-Tim


September 19, Wired ^? Windows to power ATMs in 2005. By 2005, 65 percent of
bank ATMs (not including free-standing machines in places like convenience
stores and casinos) in the United States will use a stripped-down version of
Windows. About 12 percent of the machines will use the operating system by the
end of this year, according to Gwenn Bezard, an analyst at market researcher
Celent. Bezard asked 20 of the top 60 banks in the country about their plans
to upgrade ATMs. He concluded the banking industry is ready to scrap IBM's
OS/2 operating system, which powers most ATMs today. They would prefer
Windows, a platform they consider "open" in that it is compatible with their
internal corporate networks. Also, it's so ubiquitous that they can add
features to all their ATMs without having to write multiple pieces of code for
different machines. While there are concerns about cyberattacks, the reason
bank robbers still tend not to focus on ATMs to do their dirty work is that
ATMs have almost never fallen prey to malicious hacking. Roughly $1 trillion
of ATM withdrawals will take place this year, with losses of only $15 million.
The losses are largely attributed to fraud -- stolen ATM cards or bank
insiders in charge of restocking the machines with cash. Source:
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,60497,00.html