FREMONT, Calif. — Tranax Technologies, developer of ATMs and self-service kiosks, announced the release of a new application software solution to help prevent unauthorized access to Tranax ATM terminals and operator menus.
The new firmware, when loaded onto Tranax ATMs, will require the end-user to change the default master password before being allowed to bring the terminal "in service." The software solution also causes any alteration of cash denomination settings to erase the ATM's master keys, the unique 64-digit security numbers required for operation.
Master keys only are provided by the host processor, the network that handles transaction information, and are loaded into the ATM during initial programming. This way if someone gains illegal access to the ATM's master password and attempts to tamper with the denomination values, the system will shut down until new master keys can be issued and entered.
"Raising awareness of ATM security, meeting or exceeding the industry standard practices, is very important to Tranax," said John MacDougall, product manager, Retail ATM Products. "We're trying to make it very inconvenient for someone to perpetrate fraud."
Tranax initiated the new security software in response to a breach of one of its systems at a gas station in Virginia Beach this summer. It is believed that incident resulted from a failure to adequately protect the master password, or from not changing the password from its default. The new security application is meant to address that problem.
