PIN
See Mohamed Atalia
In April 1971, Busicom began to manufacture ATMs based on the first commercial microprocessor, the Intel 4004. Busicom manufactured these microprocessor-based automated teller machines for several buyers, with NCR Corporation as the main customer.[44]
**Mohamed Atalla invented the first hardware security module (HSM),[45] dubbed the "Atalla Box", a security system which encrypted PIN and ATM messages, and protected offline devices with an un-guessable PIN-generating key.[46] In March 1972, Atalla filed U.S. Patent 3,938,091 for his PIN verification system, which included an encoded card reader and described a system that utilized encryption techniques to assure telephone link security while entering personal ID information that was transmitted to a remote location for verification.[47]
He founded Atalla Corporation (now Utimaco Atalla) in 1972,[48] and commercially launched the "Atalla Box" in 1973.[46] The product was released as the Identikey. It was a card reader and customer identification system, providing a terminal with plastic card and PIN capabilities. The Identikey system consisted of a card reader console, two customer PIN pads, intelligent controller and built-in electronic interface package.[49]
The device consisted of two keypads, one for the customer and one for the teller. It allowed the customer to type in a secret code, which is transformed by the device, using a microprocessor, into another code for the teller.[50] During a transaction, the customer's account number was read by the card reader. This process replaced manual entry and avoided possible key stroke errors. It allowed users to replace traditional customer verification methods such as signature verification and test questions with a secure PIN system.[49]
The success of the "Atalla Box" led to the wide adoption of hardware security modules in ATMs.[51] Its PIN verification process was similar to the later IBM 3624.[52] Atalla's HSM products protect 250 million card transactions every day as of 2013,[48] and secure the majority of the world's ATM transactions as of 2014.[45]...