The big worry of RBI! About 74% of public sector ATMs are vulnerable to fraud

About 74 percent of public sector banks' ATMs use outdated software – making them highly vulnerable to fraud. The revelation came in response to a question in Parliament about whether the software used for ATMs is supported. Currently, India has more than 2 ATMs and about 70% of them still run on Windows XP – which Microsoft stopped supporting in 2014.

Earlier in June, the Reserve Bank of India has given all banks timeouts ATMs or others face the action. According to the schedule, banks must implement a series of security measures by August and upgrade all ATMs with a supported version in a phased way by June 2019.

L & # 39; Last year In April, the RBI highlighted concerns about ATMs running Windows XP and / or other unsupported operating systems. "The slow progress made by the banks in solving these problems has been considered seriously by the RBI," said the central bank in a circular addressed to heads of banks and operators of ATMs in white

. arising from automated teller machines running on an unsupported version of the operating system and the non-implementation of other security measures could harm the interests of bank customers.

"It may be noted that any irregularity in the observance of the instructions The Banking Regulations Act 1949 and / or the Payment and Settlement Systems Act 2007 contain appropriate provisions for prudential supervision, according to the circular.

measures such as the BIOS (Basic Input / Output System) pbadword, disabling the USB ports, disabling the autorun feature, applying the latest patches of the operating system and other software, terminal security solution, admin access based on the time of August. Banks will need to implement a anti-skimming solution and a white list by March 2019.

In addition, all ABMs must be upgraded with supported versions of the operating system.The RBI has asked all banks to upgrade at least 25% of their ATMs with a supported operating system in September and 50% by December. All ATMs are expected to be modernized by June 2019.

Banks were also requested to take the circular to the board of directors at the next meeting, as well as the plan for the bank. proposed action for the implementation of the measures. "Progress in implementing these measures should be closely monitored to ensure that deadlines are met," the circular added.

The investigation was issued as a result of the growing number of ATM frauds.

(With PTI entries)