Remote Key Loading for ATM Security: What it is, and Why it’s important (especially in India)

When it comes to automated teller machines (ATMs), there are few higher considerations than security. Most ATM operators get on-site security right, with surveillance and access control – however, theft and fraud often occur at the data transfer level rather than at the ATM’s physical location.

Take, for instance, sensitive customer information that is submitted during the course of every ATM transaction. This information – including credit or debit card numbers and PIN numbers – needs to be transferred to the card issuer for validation, before ATM can dispense the requested cash.

Cryptographic encryption keys for data protection

To protect sensitive information being transferred to and from an ATM, cryptographic keys are generally used, to encrypt data and therefore make it unusable by hackers even if they intercept data during transfer.

While encryption keys go a long way in preventing misuse of ATM user credentials, to reinforce this layer of security, it is considered a security best practice to change the cryptographic encryption keys on a regular basis. Traditionally, changing these keys has been done manually – however, this is slow, expensive, inefficient, and error-prone.

Remote Key Loading (RKL) makes it possible to overcome these issues, delivering 4 key benefits.

1. Robust Security

Remote Key Loading eliminates the need for in-person transportation and entry of encryption keys into ATMs, which eliminates the possibility of tampering or other malicious activity on-site.

2. Low Cost & High Efficiency

When the manual effort of physically visiting ATM sites to load encryption keys is no longer required, this means that manpower can be reallocated to higher-value activities, thereby reducing operational costs and improving productivity.

3. Flexibility

The best remote key loading solutions, such as the ones offered by Blue Star E&E, deliver the flexibility to work with ATMs from different manufacturers and use different protocols – whether certificate-based or signature-based.

4. Compliance

With the need to comply with TR-34 protocol as the encryption standard, along with SHA-2 hashing algorithm, sophisticated RKL solutions are need of the hour for ATM deployers.

The need for Remote Key Loading in India

With over 2.13 lakh ATMs across the country, India has the second-highest number of ATMs in the world, behind only China! Managing such a large number of installations manually would be a tremendously expensive and time-consuming task.

Additionally, over 47% of ATMs in India are located in rural areas, which further compounds the problem with challenges in accessibility and availability of skilled manpower in every corner of the country.

The only viable solution to address these challenges is to centralise the process of loading encryption keys through  deployment of Remote Key Loading solutions.

At Blue Star E&E, our remote key loading solutions are purpose built for the Indian market, and seamlessly integrate into even the most complicated and heterogeneous environments. Our solutions have been deployed by leading banks in the country – Contact us to find out how we can help you too.