14-year-olds “hack” ATM using default security password

• 10 June 2014
• by: Bruno Bandeira
• in: hackers
• Tags: 14 anos, Banco, canada, dois, joves
• note: no comments

In Canada, two astute 14-year-olds figured out how to bypass the security of a Bank of Montreal ATM. It sounds crazy, but to “hack” it, they didn't even need a computer: all they had to do was look at a manual on the internet.

O Edmonton Journal reports that Matthew Hewlett and Caleb Turon looked for the user manual for the bank teller at a local market. So, they were able to enable administrator mode on the machine by entering one of the default system passwords.

Fortunately for the bank, the teens weren't trying to rob the cashier or install malicious card-cloning software. Instead, they warned employees at a branch of the bank that the teller was compromised.

The most damage they did was changing the welcome screen to: “Go away. This cashier has been hacked.” According to Edmonton Journal, Hewlett and Turon cooperated with the bank, which did not respond more broadly to security inquiries.

This story ended well, but it's sad to note that this idiocy about passwords persists not just in ATMs, but in all sorts of security systems. And whoever uses a default password anywhere is asking to be hacked