Will your bank pay Microsoft to keep running ATM’s?

atmwindowsBelieve it or not, roughly 95 percent of ATMs in the world are still running Windows XP — and that’s about to become an expensive problem.

Machine designer NCR says that only a third of banks will upgrade their ATMs to a newer OS before official XP support ends on April 8th, leaving many institutions little choice but to pay Microsoft for an extended contract if they still want support.

At least some banks plan to update, but they’re facing both technician backlogs and steep transition costs; estimates suggest the big UK firms might pay up to £60 million ($100 million) each to make the leap.

Whether or not your bank joins the modern era, you shouldn’t be surprised if you end up footing some of the bill.

Source: engadget.com

Robbers blow up ATM in Midrand

Scene of an ATM bombing
Scene of an ATM bombing

Robbers blew up an ATM and made off with an undisclosed amount of money in Midrand, Johannesburg police said on Thursday.

Captain Kym Cloete said three armed men held up workers at a petrol station in Noordwyk at around 2.20am.

“They pointed firearms at them and told them to lie down,” said Cloete.

The workers claimed they heard a loud bang outside, which was one of two ATMs being destroyed. The second one was not damaged.

The robbers fled. Cloete said it was not known if more than three robbers were involved.

No one was injured. – Sapa