Every cash machine has three sections. The keypad and screen module at the top and an armoured cashbox in the base. The brain linking these two parts is a regular Windows computer, which can be hacked. Especially if it’s an elderly ATM running out-of-date software.
Robin rested his laptop on the carpet and ran a long lead into the network port on the rear of the ATM. He was no ace hacker, but experienced enough to download software and follow instructions.
The network and USB ports on the QT-3.14’s computer were disabled, but one network socket had to stay live, connecting to the outside world to check customer account balances before delivering cash.
Hackers had found a way to overwrite the QT-3.14’s software using this open port. Robin started a remote software update program he’d pre-installed on his dad’s laptop, clicking yes when it asked if he wanted to Install BIOS on remote terminal.
The BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) is a tiny program that runs when you first switch a computer on, doing stuff like detecting the keyboard and switching on cooling fans. Critically for Robin’s hack, the BIOS also chooses which drive the operating system boots from.
The update took fifty anxious seconds, before asking:
Reboot terminal with new BIOS? Y/N
Robin plugged a USB stick into a port at the back of the computer. If the hacked BIOS had installed correctly, it would reactivate the computer’s USB socket and run hacked software from this USB stick, rather than the hard drive inside the machine.
Robin was comforted by a flickering light on the USB drive, as he rose onto one knee and studied the ATM screen. It had two blinking >> cursors and a Please Wait message. Occasionally the screen flashed, or some green text scrolled by, too fast to read.
He was utterly focused, and startled when a hand rapped on the window close by.
‘Let me in,’ Marion growled. ‘I’ve been thumping on the back door.’
‘Sorry,’ Robin gasped.
He scooted off the carpet and crashed the bar across a fire door at the rear.
‘What’s it like out there?’ he asked.
‘They drove Black Bess into Central Court and blew it up.’
‘Wow!’ Robin grinned.
‘Now they’re fighting cops, running wild through City Hall and trashing Gisborne’s private offices.’
‘Should know if my hack has worked any second now,’ Robin said. ‘And put your gloves on before you start touching stuff.’
The ATM had finished booting and apparently the anonymous hacker who rewrote the QT-3.14 operating software had a sense of humour. The machine’s usual options to check balance or withdraw money were now replaced with a green smiley face and:
FREE MONEY!
<<< Yes No >>>
Robin returned the machine’s smile as he tapped yes.
There was a beep, then a noise like a seatbelt coming undone as the armoured door of the cashbox popped. Hinges squealed as Robin swung it open, then he stuck his head inside and saw four slots, each with a grey plastic cartridge like the ones that go into a photocopier.
But instead of white paper, Robin eased the top one out and eyed a tray stacked with hundred-pound notes. A guide along one side showed roughly how much cash was left.
‘Nineteen thousand in this tray,’ Robin said, as Marion leaned in for a peek.
‘Robin,’ she said, laughing in triumph. ‘that looks even more beautiful than you in your pearlescent unicorn hoodie.’