Dedicated Micros - banking on security in the Middle EastDedicated Micros have had tremendous success delivering CCTV solutions to the banking sector in the Middle East, which faces a multitude of threats including fraud, theft and physical attacks on staff and customers. Across the Gulf Cooperation Council area we can count 10 major banks - in Bahrain, Dubai, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia - as customers, the largest has nearly 1000 systems installed. As our CCTV systems are embedded rather than PC based they are recognised for their stability - essential in the banking environment - whereas PC solutions have a reputation for crashing without warning. Tackling ATM fraud The security challenges with regards to banking are most keenly felt when it comes to the safe operation of Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) whose accessibility makes them a convenient target. It is CCTV systems, specifically remotely accessible DVRs that are at the very heart of efforts to deal with this type of threat. A prime example is Dedicated Micros DV-IP ATM, based on NetVu Connected technology, and compact enough to fit within the confines of an ATM. The DV-IP ATM can be supplied with an Arabic menu and also has the ability to capture ATM transaction data in Arabic. Networked ATM surveillance in action A large bank in the Middle East, which has already started to reap the practical benefits of this technology, had been suffering increasing losses as a result of ATM fraud. The attacks included card skimming, credit/debit card fraud and fraudulent transactions and involved violent theft against staff carrying out maintenance on the ATM's. In fact the situation was starting to grab the headlines in the local media, making it a live issue both for the bank and its customers. The losses were also starting to have a negative impact on its insurance premiums. A pressing requirement The bank's existing security measures, a door entry system and panic alarms for tellers at an individual branch level, were simply not up to the task of dealing with the growing criminal threat. There was only a basic analogue CCTV system and no use being made of the IT network to transmit security information to a central location from the 400 widely dispersed bank branches. A networked CCTV solution such the DV-IP ATM from Dedicated Micros seemed to be the best way forward, given the geographical spread of its branches. A traditional standalone CCTV recording system for each branch would simply not have delivered the flexibility or responsiveness that was required. By contrast our solution could be smoothly integrated into the bank's security system through its IP enabled computer network.  The solution had to be able to take account of the fact that on the existing network traffic associated with financial transactions would have a higher priority than security images. The ability of the DV-IP ATM system to record evidential quality MJPEG locally and simultaneously support low bit rate data streaming in MPEG-4 compression format for remote viewing was advantageous, keeping bandwidth demands on the network to an absolute minimum. Local recording also had the added advantage that even if there was a network failure, recording would not be interrupted or vital evidence lost.
The requirement to deliver a safe working environment and secure cash withdrawal facilities resulted in cameras being installed in each of the bank's ATMs with images recorded locally by the DV-IP ATM fitted to each machine. The capability to display the camera view from the ATM on local spot monitors acts as a high profile visual deterrent to potential perpetrators and instils confidence that the bank is committed to the welfare of its customers and staff. Applied as part of the solution, the specialised ATM Interface Module from Dedicated Micros decodes Diebold protocol transaction data - without interfering with communication to the bank's mainframe computer - and then processes and reformats this information so it can be passed to the DV-IP ATM unit itself for recording with video footage. Sensitive details are not captured - only the relevant part of the data is actually saved with each image. The ATM Interface Module is compatible with a wide range of bank systems and ATM systems. When it comes to customer disputes, the potential to link metadata to images and apply text search engines for post event analysis is certainly a powerful tool for the bank. Staff can handle customer queries regarding ATM transactions in a timely and positive manner, whether it concerns one machine or across a number of ATMs, by simply inputting specific search parameters such as the customer's account number to call up images. Security staff were also given the capability to retrieve relevant CCTV video footage on demand from any point on the bank's IT network, enabling them to home in on suspicious criminal activity and take appropriate action. It was important that the system could provide the evidence that the police require to address the fraudulent use of cash and credit cards, and help bank staff deal with genuine customer queries over cash withdrawals. The internal storage capacity of each DV-IP ATM unit ensures that 6 months of on-line video is available. Crucially key events are automatically protected - video recorded due to an alarm is not overwritten for a set period or until archived. In addition the DV-IP ATM systems are automatically FTP configured to download events of interest, every 30 minutes, from each branch to a central server. Furthermore, the application of the networked CCTV solution helped to maximise the potential of existing security measures, the bank's Help points being a case in point. This was facilitated by the availability of a SDK (Software Development Kit), based on standard client/server protocols, allowing the integrators to design a custom Java based application. In practice when a panic button is activated the DV-IP ATM automatically connects to the bank's newly dedicated Central Control Room. Associated bi-directional audio facilities allow two-way communication with the site and, crucially, the vital audio is recorded and stored with the associated video images and indexed for rapid retrieval. Making the right connection A key benefit of the new ATM security infrastructure for the bank is the ability to make the centralised monitoring of over 400 branches an economically viable proposition. It is possible to simply use the existing IT network to transmit video to a control room (or PC in a branch) for live viewing, review and advanced transaction text searching on demand. The results for the bank have been impressive. Already video evidence has been provided to the police of criminals attaching card skimming devices to ATM machines. The threat faced by the bank's ATM service teams has been significantly reduced, with the likelihood in the longer term that staff turnover and absence due to the trauma caused by incidents will fall. For prospective customers the bank's withdrawal facilities can be promoted as safe and secure, whilst existing customers benefit from the rapid resolution of withdrawal disputes/queries, with branch customer advisers having information to hand to bring the vast majority of cases to a successful conclusion. By Salim Idris, Dedicated Micros 
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