Thursday, September 10, 2026

Europe loses €1 million to malware attacks on ATMs

Losses caused by malware and logical attacks rocketed from less than €1,000 in 2019 H1 to just over €1 million in 2020 H1.”

• February 10, 2021
A hacker on a computer used to illustrate the story.
A hacker on a computer used to illustrate the story.

A new report says that Europe has lost more than €1 million to malware and logical attacks on automated teller machines in the first half of 2020.

Atlas VPN, a virtual private network provider, disclosed in a statement on Tuesday that the attacks almost tripled in the first six months of last year.

It said, “ATM malware and logical attacks went up from 35 to 129 in the first half of 2020, representing a 269 percent increase from last year. Losses caused by malware and logical attacks rocketed from less than €1,000 in 2019 H1 to just over €1 million in 2020 H1.”

The virtual private network provider added that the ATM-related physical attacks were down from 2,376 to 1,829, amounting to a 23 percent decline.

Despite the decline in the number of attacks, losses due to physical attacks led to an 11 percent increase of about €12.6 million.

Detailing how cybercriminals engage in malware and logical attacks, Atlas VPN explained that hackers obtained ATM users’ credit card information to prepare fake credit and debit cards after gaining access to the dispenser.

“Also, hackers can collect the cash available in the ATM, depending on what part of the software the criminals could access,” Atlas VPN added.

It further identified that physical ATM attacks were more common and caused more significant financial losses.

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