Security researcher Barnaby Jack's effective demonstration of remote hacks against two automated teller machines (ATMs), at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas on Wednesday, highlights the fact that most of the computers are either not monitored for security issues or are not updated regularly to ensure protection against hacking attacks.

Barnaby Jack stunned the attendees of the conference by using exploits with names like "Scrooge" and "Dillinger" to not only hack into ATMs, but also to reprogram the machines to spew cash, and even steal the personal information of the unsuspecting users.

Saying that he has yet to find an ATM machine that he could not crack and retrieve money from, Jack demonstrated his exploits - focusing on ATM machines from Triton and Tranax - to the conference attendees.

While one exploit pertained to physical access to the ATM machine using a master key available online; another exploit involved remote dialing to gain access.

Noting that the ATM machine served as only one sensational example to highlight the poor physical security, and insufficient digital security, on a legacy or niche platform, McAfee security researcher Toralv Dirro said in a blog post: "Most people tend to ignore the fact that a lot of today's devices and machines are running fairly standard computers and operating systems internally. ATM machines, cars, medical devices, even your TV may have such a computer inside, allowing updates over a network. Software unfortunately has flaws."