As reported previously, notably by security researcher Brian Krebs, ATM fraudsters are developing more and more sophisticated methods to skim users' card and PIN details.
The students' 'Design Against ATM Crime' project - which runs through to next week at the London college – is being conducted in partnership with NCR, the ATM manufacturer and DCPCU – the Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Crime Unit. Other partners include the LINK ATM consortium and the RBS Group, which includes NatWest and RBS banks.
Amongst several innovative designs, which have been published on the Web, are ATM ball mirrors, a privacy shutter and mirror shield and a no signal area system.
The ATM ball mirror is a wall-hung mini-ball mirror that allows the ATM user to view everything around them, including anyone trying to shoulder-surf their PIN.
The privacy shutter is, as the name implies, a movable shutter that allows the ATM users to conduct their transactions without being shoulder surfed.
The no signal area design, meanwhile, centres on the use of a signal jammer publicly sited next to the ATM, and which blocks wireless transmissions in the nearby vicinity of the machine, so preventing Bluetooth, GSM and WiFi-based cameras plus other wireless electronic devices from operating.
The Design Against ATM Crime exhibition at London's Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design (CSM) in Holborn, will run until the 21st of June.