The ATM Industry Association has published a best-practices guide for decommissioning automated teller machines at the end of their seven- to 10-year life span.
The manual addresses risk scenarios machine owners should consider, the association said.
"We want to avoid situations where an ATM ends up on eBay or in the hands of a criminal who can perform reverse engineering on the machine," Mike Lee, the association's chief executive, said in an April 11 press release.
The guide covers best practices for protecting consumer data, handling secondhand machines and dealing with liability issues that come up with the disposal of ATMs.
The risk to ATMs appears greatest in four situations, Lee said by email. Those instances occur when ATMs are relocated from one spot to another, moved to a warehouse, removed for destruction or go out of service but remain in place.
ATM owners and deployers should use secure transportation and not leave the machines unattended, Lee said. They also should keep ATMs in secure storage facilities and not delay their disposal, he added.
"Implementation of these best practices will add another layer of protection around the ATM industry," Lee said in the email message. "We estimated about 100,000 ATMs will be decommissioned worldwide each year."
