I must admit I find it to be truly amusing that you are calling Mr. Sicilano’s efforts, “self serving” and that he “isn’t helping anyone”. Let’s see you are “supposedly” someone representing the ATMIA so WE the GENERAL public are supposed to take YOUR word that the short comings of YOUR industry are not as you say. Interesting to say the least. Have you even bothered to verify your statements with some back up or research? Let me quote you kind sir..and I quote “Since you are a self proclaimed “Identity Theft Expert” end quote. You must suffer from some mild mental disorder because if you have done any research on Mr. Sicilano you would very quickly come to realize that he is a sought out speaker regarding his forte(identity theft). You sir are exhibiting 2 very typical negative attributes to your own people. 1. You are clearly looking after your own interests and NOT the general public’s(which is a shame) and 2. You are trying to undermine a person that has nothing to prove, a person that has been selected to be the key note speaker at the 12th annual Orbograph conference. A person that has been invited to TV shows , radio shows, the major newspapers in America and so on. So in short let me get this straight, he is trying to cause , how did you put it?..ah yes and I quote “ fear mongering, grandstanding and shameless self promotion” You truly are a joke. People like you are the cause of disbelief in decency. There will always be an element of corruption from within a society, I just wonder if you sleep well at night trying to insult honest people that are trying to open the eyes of the public. It truly is a shame when someone goes to the trouble of showing the public (with proof) that there is a real problem and people like YOU sir, try and pull the wool over there eyes. I bet you don’t think telemarketing is a problem either? And if you do I bet it’s because you do not turn a profit from it. Part of me would love to sit down face to face and have a duel of wits, but I do not believe in duels when the other party is unarmed. And if you didn’t understand that, I’m quit simply calling you a moron. Keep drinking from the cesspool of corruption, see where it will get you.

Signed, V for Vendetta

As an ATMIA member who is active in several security and best practices committees, I think that your allegations are only partially correct. Skimming of track two card data has been around as long as magnetic striped cards and as an industry association, ATMIA has been very active in working with the card associations, law enforcement, manufacturers and ATM operators to find solutions to what is a complex and difficult to solve problem. Although the theft of cardholder data and PIN’s pose a serious threat to the public and the global banking system, the fact remains that ATM’s account for a relatively small percentage of cardholder data compromises worldwide. I would also like to point out that the industry addressed the issue of storing card numbers on receipts and journal tapes a number of years ago.

Since you are a self proclaimed “Identity Theft Expert” perhaps you can enlighten us on how you would propose eliminating card skimming and cardholder data theft. I am also curious to know if you think that only banks should be allowed to own and operate ATM’s, and if so, do you think that the hundreds of thousands of ATM’s that are owned by legitimate operators should be rounded up and confiscated? If you are in fact an expert on anything, shouldn’t you at least try to get your facts straight before you pursue a strategy of fear mongering, grandstanding and shameless self promotion? You are not serving anyone’s interest but you own.

Kind regards,

ATM Security Expert