Fergie's Tech Blog

Juniper Networks Gags 'ATM Jackpot' Researcher

Patrick Gray writes on Risky.biz:

A demonstration in which security researcher Barnaby Jack would "jackpot" an ATM live on stage at the upcoming Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas has been pulled by his employer.

Security and network device vendor Juniper Networks forced Mr. Jack to cancel his presentation, an anticipated highlight of the Black Hat event, following pressure from the affected ATM vendor. The demonstration would have seen the researcher hack an ATM live on stage, causing it to spit out cash, or "jackpot".

"The affected ATM vendor has expressed to us concern about publicly disclosing the research findings before its constituents were fully protected," a statement issued by Juniper Networks reads. "Considering the scope and possible exposure of this issue on other vendors, Juniper decided to postpone Jack’s presentation until all affected vendors have sufficiently addressed the issues found in his research."

Risky.Biz understands the ATM vendor had been given notification of the upcoming presentation, and Juniper Networks was initially happy for Mr. Jack to present his research findings publicly.

posted by Fergie @ 6/29/2009 11:22:00 PM