New FiXS ATM Malware Targeting Mexican Banks

A new ATM malware strain dubbed FiXS has been observed targeting Mexican banks since the start of February 2023.

“The ATM malware is hidden inside another not-malicious-looking program,” Latin American cybersecurity firm Metabase Q said in a report shared with The Hacker News.

Besides requiring interaction via an external keyboard, the Windows-based ATM malware is also vendor-agnostic and is capable of infecting any teller machine that supports CEN/XFS (short for eXtensions for Financial Services).

The exact mode of compromise remains unknown but Metabase Q’s Dan Regalado told The Hacker News that it’s likely that “attackers found a way to interact with the ATM via touchscreen.”

FiXS is also said to be similar to another strain of ATM malware codenamed Ploutus that has enabled cybercriminals to extract cash from ATMs by using an external keyboard or by sending an SMS message.

One of the notable characteristics of FiXS is its ability to dispense money 30 minutes after the last ATM reboot by leveraging the Windows GetTickCount API.

images from Hacker News