BROOKINGS, S.D. and CAPE TOWN, South Africa — The Global ATM Security Alliance has named its global ATM crime database "Cognito," a word derived from the Latin, cognoscere, or to know.
"The connotation our name carries is that our database will help us to know what is happening in the world of ATM crime and to think clearly about solutions. The expectation is that we will all become knowledgeable about ATM crime and countermeasures through Cognito," said Mike Lee, chairman and founder of GASA and CEO of the ATM Industry Association.
"Hopefully, the name will help the database take on some personality, becoming more familiar to users. After all, to keep referring to 'the GASA data management system' becomes quite a mouthful after a while," Lee added.
GASA recently enhanced the database by launching Operation ATM Firewall, a project to make available to registered users of Cognito a wide range of protective solutions and strategies for specific ATM crimes.
"This operation involves the development of a global inventory of current counter-measures for all ATM crime types and associated criminal modus operandi," Lee said. "The purpose is to empower users of GASA's data management system to make informed decisions about preventive technologies, solutions and strategies."
The countermeasures field has been added to the GASA data management system and will enable users to click on a crime type and modus operandi and then go to a "shopping list" of solutions for that particular crime.
Participants in the project include major manufacturers, banks, independent deployers, industry associations, software providers and security firms and consultants.
