Hypercom payment terminals bricked... but not by malware

When ‘several thousand’ Hypercom payment terminals across the country simultaneously stopped working last week, it would be easy to jump to the conclusion that some malicious malware was on the loose, but the truth had nothing to do with cybercriminals, Brian Krebs of Krebs on Security explains.

With point of sale malware having successfully targeted many high-street businesses this year, including Kmart, Home Depot and Dairy Queen, cybercriminals would seem to be a likely source at first glance, but actually it seems that the terminals crashed due to the expiry of a cryptographic certificate used in the devices.

Hypercom payment terminals bricked... but not by malware