Information Security: ATM Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability

Running head: INFORMATION SECURITY
Information Security
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note:

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INFORMATION SECURITY
Table of Contents
Question 1..................................................................................................................................2
Question 2..................................................................................................................................3
Question 3..................................................................................................................................4
Question 4..................................................................................................................................5
Question 5..................................................................................................................................6
References..................................................................................................................................8

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INFORMATION SECURITY
Question 1
ATM or Automated Teller Machines are so designed that there should be no issues
with information security and the users could easily get a particular personal identification
number or PIN for accessing their accounts in banks (Peltier, 2013). The detailed descriptions
of these three requirements with examples are given below:
i) Confidentiality: Confidentiality can be roughly stated as privacy. The various
measures that are undertaken for ensuring confidentiality in ATM are designed for the
prevention of sensitive information from reaching to the wrong people (Von Solms & Van
Niekerk, 2013). The access of these ATM cards and PIN numbers should be absolutely
restricted and limited to only those who are authorized. There are several examples of
confidentiality associated in these systems. These examples are as follows:
a) The first example for ensuring confidentiality is the account number or any routing
number when internet banking is executed. Data encryption is the most common method to
ensure confidentiality. The unique username as well as passwords help to differentiate the
authorized user.
b) The second example of confidentiality in ATM machines is that the particular card
should be present and without it, no transaction is done (Siponen, Mahmood & Pahnila,
2014).
c) Two distinct kinds of breaching of confidentiality are possible in ATM. One of
them is while the credentials of the authorized user are being stolen and the second is while
the employee detail of any organization is being breached.
ii) Integrity: The second requirement that is solely associated with the ATM system is
integrity. It helps to maintain the accuracy, consistency as well as trustworthiness of any
specific data (De Gramatica et al., 2015).
The examples of integrity requirement are given below:
a) The data should not be changed without the permission of the authorized user.
b) The sudden or accidental deletion of data of ATM also affects the data integrity.
c) The particular people who maintain the data should search for some measures to
implement data integrity.
iii) Availability: The third significant requirement in ATM is the availability. It
roughly refers to maintenance of the hardware or information that is being involved while
doing any transaction (Andress, 2014). This hardware is the most important factor in the
ATM machine. It is connected with software and thus, this hardware is checked with proper
system up gradation.
The examples of availability in an ATM machine are given below:
a) The systems that are being utilized while executing any transaction.
b) DoS attacks should be prevented while maintaining availability.

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INFORMATION SECURITY
c) The information availability refers to the information required while making a
transaction.
Question 2
A thief has broken into an ATM or an Automated Teller Machine by utilizing a
screwdriver and thus was successful in jamming the ATM card reader. He even broke the five
distinct keys from keypad. He was extremely confident regarding his approach towards
stealing the money from that Automated Teller Machine or ATM.
Although, this particular thief had to stop his entire process of ATM machine
breaking off. A customer came in between to withdraw some cash. For this purpose, the thief
had to hide. The customer was not able to spot the thief.
He came inside the Automated Teller Machine or ATM and entered his ATM card
within the machine. This customer then, entered his respective four digits PIN within the
machine and was also successful in withdrawing out some cash from his bank account. Next,
he tried to take out the ATM card from the machine. As the card reader of the Automated
Teller Machine was jammed beforehand, he was unable to complete this procedure. His ATM
card was jammed within the machine and he went out to call someone for help.
During this period, the thief came out. He took the decision to find out the unique PIN
of the customer for the purpose of stealing money from that account. He tried many times and
there is a specific procedure to find out the PIN number of the customer.
The following steps clearly depict the maximum number of PINs or personal
identification numbers, this particular thief is required to enter, before successfully
discovering the correct PIN of that customer.
There are four keys in any PIN number. Therefore, these four keys could be utilized
with the combination of probabilities.
The total number of probabilities or possibilities, which the particular thief present
within the Automated Teller Machine or ATM could enter, is given below:
5P4 = 5!/(5 - 4)! = 5!/4! = 120.
Thus, the thief can enter 120 ways or possibilities for detecting the ATM PIN of the
customer.
Various security measures are present in all Automated Teller Machines and each of
them is unique in nature. The most significant limitation or restriction within an ATM card is
that the user is allowed to enter only 3 times. After those three times, if the user is
unsuccessful in giving the correct card number, the specific card would be blocked.