Hackers Target ATMs in US

JPMorgan Chase ATMs stand near a door as customers walk past a Duane Reade store in New York. Photo: Reuters
JPMorgan Chase ATMs stand near a door as customers walk past a Duane Reade store in New York. Photo: Reuters
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Hackers Target ATMs in US

JPMorgan Chase ATMs stand near a door as customers walk past a Duane Reade store in New York. Photo: Reuters
JPMorgan Chase ATMs stand near a door as customers walk past a Duane Reade store in New York. Photo: Reuters

Cyber criminals targeted US cash machines with tools that force them to spit out cash in hacking schemes known as “jackpotting.”

The two ATM makers Diebold Nixdorf Inc. and NCR Corp. did not identify any victims or say how much money had been lost.

Jackpotting has been rising worldwide in recent years, though it is unclear how much cash has been stolen because victims and police often do not disclose details.

Hackers who use this method drag the ATM to a trap in order to steal the money it stocks.

The attacks were reported earlier on Saturday by the security news website Krebs on Security, which said they had begun last year in Mexico. The companies confirmed to Reuters on Saturday they had sent out the alerts to clients.

NCR said in a Friday alert that the cases were the first confirmed “jackpotting” losses in the United States.

It said its equipment had not been targeted in the recent attacks, but that it was still a concern for the entire ATM industry.

The alert said: “This should be treated by all ATM deployers as a call to action to take appropriate steps to protect their ATMs against these forms of attack,”

Diebold Nixdorf said in a separate Friday alert that US authorities had warned the company that hackers were targeting one of its ATM models, known as Opteva, which went out of production several years ago.

Krebs on Security reported that a confidential US Secret Service alert sent to banks said the hackers targeted stand-alone ATMs typically located in pharmacies, big box retailers and drive-thru ATMs.

Reuters was unable to obtain a copy of the Secret Service report and an agency representative declined comment. Officials with the Federal Bureau of Investigation could not immediately be reached.

Russian cyber security firm Group IB has reported that cyber criminals remotely attacked cash machines in more than a dozen countries across Europe in 2016. Similar attacks were also reported that year in Thailand and Taiwan.



Indonesia: Residents Wear Masks as Volcanic Ash Blankets Villages Near Erupting Volcano

A handout photo made available by Indonesia's Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center (PVMBG) shows Mount Lewitobi Lake-laki spewing ash during its eruption in East Flores, Indonesia, 07 July 2025. EPA/PVMBG HANDOUT
A handout photo made available by Indonesia's Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center (PVMBG) shows Mount Lewitobi Lake-laki spewing ash during its eruption in East Flores, Indonesia, 07 July 2025. EPA/PVMBG HANDOUT
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Indonesia: Residents Wear Masks as Volcanic Ash Blankets Villages Near Erupting Volcano

A handout photo made available by Indonesia's Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center (PVMBG) shows Mount Lewitobi Lake-laki spewing ash during its eruption in East Flores, Indonesia, 07 July 2025. EPA/PVMBG HANDOUT
A handout photo made available by Indonesia's Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center (PVMBG) shows Mount Lewitobi Lake-laki spewing ash during its eruption in East Flores, Indonesia, 07 July 2025. EPA/PVMBG HANDOUT

Residents wore masks to protect themselves from thick volcanic ash that blanketed roads and green rice fields in villages in south-central Indonesia as rumbling Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki erupted Tuesday for a second straight day.

The eruption at dawn sent lava and clouds of ash up to 4 kilometers (2.4 miles) high. That followed an eruption around midday Monday that sent a column of volcanic materials up to 18 kilometers (11 miles) into the sky and an evening burst that spewed lava and send volcanic ash as high as 13 kilometers (8 miles) into the air, The Associated Press reported.

Photos and videos circulating on social media showed terrified residents ran for their lives under the rain of ash and gravel and motorists struggled to drive motorbikes and cars in the reduced visibility as the ash clouds from Monday's eruption expanded into a mushroom shape.

No casualties have been reported from the latest eruptions of the volcano that has been at the highest alert level since June 18 when its no-go zone was expanded to a 7-kilometer (4.3-mile) radius, said Abdul Muhari, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesperson.

“People around the volcano have increasingly understood how to minimize the impact of disaster risks as eruptions became more frequent since the end of 2023,” Muhari said in a statement.

The eruptions of the volcano on Flores Island affected more than 10,000 people in 10 villages in East Flores and Sikka districts, according to initial assessments by the local disaster management agency.

Thick volcanic ash and rocks were reported to have fallen in villages of Nawakote, Klantanio, Hokeng Jaya, Boru, Pululera and Wulanggitang, where roads and green rice fields were transformed into grey thick mud and rocks, said Very Awales, an public information official at Sikka district administration, adding that schools were closed in those affected areas since Monday to protect students and staff from various hazards due to volcanic activities.

“The smell of sulfur and ash hung so thickly in the air that breathing was painful,” Awales said.

Authorities distributed 50,000 masks and urged residents to limit outdoor activities to protect themselves from volcanic materials. Residents were also urged to be vigilant about heavy rainfall that could trigger lava flows in rivers originating from the volcano.

The eruption of Lewotobi Laki Laki followed its eruption in November 2024 that killed nine people and injured dozens.

The Geology Agency recorded an avalanche of searing gas clouds mixed with rocks and lava traveling up to 5 kilometers (3 miles) down the slopes of the 1,584-meter (5,197-foot) mountain Monday. Observations from drones showed lava filling the crater, indicating deep movement of magma that set off volcanic earthquakes. Volcanic materials, including hot thumb-size gravel, were thrown up to 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the crater.

Muhari said two airports in the cities of Maumere and Larantuka in East Nusa Tenggara province remained closed Tuesday.

Dozens of flights to and from the Ngurah Rai international airport on the resort island of Bali were delayed or canceled, but airport spokesperson Ahmad Syaugi Shahab said the airport was running normally despite the cancellations, as monitoring showed the volcanic ash had not affected Bali’s airspace.