Finacial safety

FBI warns banks about potential ATM hacking scheme


The FBI is warning financial institutions that their ATMs could be targeted in a hacking attempt.

The threat was reported Sunday by Krebs On Security, a popular cybersecurity blog run by the journalist Brian Krebs.

Krebs reported that the scheme is known as an "ATM cash-out," which means the attackers can hack a bank or payment card processor and use stolen information to withdraw large sums of money at ATMs worldwide. His report cited a confidential alert the FBI shared with banks last Friday.

The FBI did not comment specifically on this potential attack. In a statement to CNN, a spokeswoman said that "in furtherance of public-private partnerships, the FBI routinely advises private industry of various cyber threat indicators observed during the course of our investigations."