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Application Note:

Text Insertion for Transaction Data into Digital Video Recorders

Designed for Financial institutions with ATMs and Point Of Sale (POS) Terminals, the JBM Gateway products provide Text Insertion for Transaction Data into Digital Video Recorders


JBM Electronics DVR Solutions

The JBM Gateways provide a number of different solutions for the security DVR market. As financial institutions upgrade or replace their older ATM's and POS terminals to TCP/IP, the DVR's attached to them may become absolute. The reason for this is that the older terminals connected to the DVR's use legacy protocol such as Poll-Select, Bisync, and SNA/SDLC. Unfortunately when the DVR's were purchased they only supported these older protocols for text insertion. In order to preserve these older DVR's, JBM has developed a number of solutions that will extend there lifespan. The JBM solutions include:
  1. Splitting out the TCP/IP connection from the terminal and then converting it back to the legacy protocols
    so the DVR can understand the data.

  2. Data parsing of the TCP/IP data and providing it to the DVR in an ASCII format

  3. Data parsing of legacy protocols and providing it to the DVR in an ASCII format

  4. Providing Data Parsing, VPN/SSL with Firewall, and Router Functionality
    5.

History of Video Security

In today's society, security is a major concern for financial institutions. Fraud, burglary, and employee theft cost corporations millions of dollars each year. Because of this, security managers have the tremendous responsibility of securing an institution's assets from external as well as internal threats. Identifying a thief or an employee for prosecution has always been a difficult task until the introduction of video security.

In the verification and identification process of a thief, video has played a major role. Since the first VCR was released, security managers have been using this important tool in helping them deterrent against theft as well as for identification. In POS applications, video cameras over cash registers or built into an ATM's can greatly help in deterring or catching a thief.

Over the years, video recording technology has changed. In the early days, video for security applications was recorded onto VCR's and the tapes would have to be changed each day. Today most video is recorded onto a Digital Video Recorded (DVR), which doesn't use any tapes. DVR's use digital technology and record all of the video onto computer hard drives. This technology has made it easier for security managers because most DVR's are connected to the IP network. This enables security personnel to be able to view the video from any location at one central site at any time.

DVR's offer a wide range of features and functionality and the cost for these DVR's have a wide range as well. Low cost DVR's only record video while top of the line systems incorporates transaction data in the video. This transaction data comes from the ATM or Cash register and includes receipt or other information. This information along with the video can greatly help with customer disputes and law enforcement investigations.

Here's a good example of how a DVR with text insertion of transaction data can be useful. A bank customer is reviewing his/her bank statement and notices a number of ATM withdrawals from their checking account that they haven't made. The customer calls the bank and demands to know why these withdrawals are showing up on their bank statement. The banks security group can search the database for each transaction and review the video associated with that transaction to see who actually made the withdrawals. In this case it could be one of the customers family members or it could be a thief who stole the customers identity. Having the transaction data incorporated with the video made this investigation much easier and faster to solve.

Text Insertion or Data Parsing, How it Works

There's a number of ways to extract transaction data for insertion onto the video record. One of the easiest ways to capture this data is by using a "Y" cable on the printer of a POS terminal. This cable then connects to the DVR's serial port. When a transaction is completed a receipt is printed and when that receipt prints the data is captured in an ASCII format and sent to the DVR. The DVR will then overlay the data onto the video for storage. This is the easiest solution for data extraction but far from the best. The optimum solution comes from connecting to the network port of the terminal and has it pass through the DVR and let the DVR parse the data. This is certainly the best solution but probably the most costly since the DVR would have to be intelligent enough to understand the data and network protocol.

Parsing transaction data onto video is not as easy as you may think. With over 200 DVR manufactures and many ATM and POS terminal vendors, compatibility is a major issue. Over the years, ATM suppliers have used many different data formats for their transactions. These data formats include Diebold - 911/912, NCR - NDC/NDC+, VISA, and ISO-8583. In addition, physical interfaces and networking protocols vary as well. The physical interfaces include Ethernet, serial, or Dial-up and the networking protocols could be TCP/IP, Async, Bisync, SDLC, and Dial-up Async. Fortunately, JBM Electronics realizes the complexity of this problem and has introduced text insertion with data parsing of transaction data into our Gateway product line. This solution creates a happy medium since all of the intelligence is in the low cost Gateway. This enables the user to purchase a much lower cost DVR and use that DVR with and type of terminal since the JBM Gateway can handle any type of interface or protocol.

JBM Data Parsing Solution

The Gateways are designed to sit between the ATM or POS terminal, the DVR, and the IP Network. The network port of the ATM or POS terminal is connected to the Gateway and the Gateway has the ability to selectively transfer parsed data to the digital video recorder (DVR). The Gateway is also connected to the IP network so the ATM or POS terminal can communicate with the host. The Gateways offer a configurable parsing that is selected through the setup menus. The menus allow each field to be marked for deletion or transfer to the DVR. Furthermore, the ATM card information can be transferred intact or truncated to the last four digits.


Applications

The JBM Gateways are extremely flexible and can be used in a number of different scenarios. Below we will review each application.
  1. Preserving an existing DVR during an ATM or POS upgrade - Many ATM's or POS terminals are going through the upgrade or replacement process in recent years. With the 3DES keypad requirement many financial institutions are also upgrading their terminals to TCP/IP from Poll-Select, Bisync, or some other legacy protocol. In some situations an expensive DVR may be connected to one of these terminals to capture transaction data for text insertion. These high-end DVR's could cost as much as $10,000 or more. The reason for their high cost is because they have the intelligence to capture and parse the legacy protocols (Poll-Select, Bisync, SNA/SDLC) directly from the ATM or POS terminal. Figure 1 shows a typical configuration before an upgrade or replacement is made. The DVR in this case is usually specific to one type of protocol, for instance Poll-Select. If the ATM is upgraded or replaced with a TCP/IP ATM then the DVR becomes worthless since it's not able to understand TCP/IP transaction data. Figure 2 shows an upgrade ATM to TCP/IP. In this case the ATM is connected to the JBM Gateway and the Gateway is parsing the TCP/IP transaction data and converting it to a protocol that the DVR can understand. This low cost solution saves the customer from having to replace the expensive DVR when replacing or upgrading their ATM.



    2.
    DVR Network Diagram
    DVR Network Diagram using the Gateway
  2. New install of a TCP/IP ATM and DVR - When deploying a new ATM or POS terminal that needs video surveillance with text insertion, a JBM Gateway can greatly reduce the cost of a new DVR. As noted earlier a DVR that can parse transaction data is much more expensive than one that doesn't. In this application the ATM's transaction data is connected to the Gateway using TCP/IP over Ethernet. The Gateway then selectively parses the transaction data and sends it to the low cost DVR in an ASCII format over a RS232 serial port. The Gateway also passes the transaction data to the host over the IP network through the branch router. The DVR is also connected to the branch router for communications back to the security headquarters. Figure 3 shows the simple configuration.
    3. DVR Network Diagram using the Gateway
  3. Using a JBM Gateway for Protocol Converter, Text Insertion, Branch Router, and VPN/Firewall - The JBM Gateway is a multi-function platform capable of performing different tasks simultaneously. The Gateway can be used as a Protocol Converter to convert legacy protocols to TCP/IP, perform data parsing for text insertion eliminating the need for an expensive DVR to do data parsing, replace the need for a Branch Router to communicate back to the host site, and support VPN with Firewall. This solution reduces the number of boxes needed at a particular location as well as lowering cost. Figure 4 shows this multi function application.
DVR-2 Network Diagram using G400

Operation

The Gateways provide a transparent pass-through of the transaction data from the ATM or POS terminal to the host. The data parsing and text insertion operation is as follows:

  1. A transaction is initiated at the ATM or POS terminal by a customer
  2. The ATM or POS terminal communicates to the host
  3. A copy of the data is temporarily stored in the memory of the Gateway
  4. The stored data is processed using the customer-defined capture fields configured in the Gateway
  5. The parsed data is transferred through the Gateway's serial port to the DVR in the proper format
  6. Once the data has been successfully transferred to the DVR, the data is deleted from memory to preserve message security and integrity
  7. The DVR will impose the data on the video record to create a complete record of the transaction

Features and Functionality of the Gateway Products

Security Features
ATMs and POS devices are open for attack by hackers and JBM realizes this, so we have added additional security by incorporating VPN capabilities with Firewall functionality into our products. We provide a Linux based hardware solution, which is a secure way of preventing hackers from retrieving critical transaction data. Our Gateway products support Network Address Translation (NAT), filtering, and 3DES encryption. Our Gateway products are easy to install; and in most cases, no reconfiguration of the ATM or POS device is required. The Gateways include:

    Key Security Features:

  • Stateful Inspection Firewall
    		•
  • DHCP Client/Server
    		•
  • SSL Client/Server
    		•
  • PAT for IPSec
    		•
  • VPN Client/Server
    		•
  • NAT
    		•
  • 3DES Encryption
    		•
  • PPP/PPPoE
    		•
  • Dynamic Keys
    		•
  • Transparent Bridging Capability
    		•

Router Functionality
The Gateway Series offers full IP routing functionality supporting Static, RIP, OSPF, and BGP routing. The Gateway also supports DHCP, DHCP client, PPP, and PPPoE for broadband users.

Compatibility
Compatibility is never an issue with the Gateway since JBM uses all standards based protocols. Interoperability between JBM and other router/VPN vendors is fully supported.

Fallback Routing
One of the Gateway's key features is the ability to perform fallback routing. Fallback routing enables a user to configure alternate paths to the host or to several hosts for disaster recovery. The fallback path can be to a different IP server or with a properly equipped Gateway, through a different connection such as a cell or dial modem.

Dial Backup
The V.92 modem card can be used for dial backup in case the primary link goes down. This feature provides reliability for a customer's most important data. Also, the V.92 Modem can be used as a primary dial out circuit.

Management
The JBM Gateways can be configured through CLI Command entered via console port or Telnet. The Telnet connection provides command, control, and monitoring of the Gateways. SNMP is supported with SNMP Traps providing notification of major events in the Gateways. SSH is also supported for security of the management connection. Extensions to the Telnet or SNMP commands are available as a special order.

Wireless Support
Some of the Gateways provide an integrated cell modem for CDMA or GSM/GPRS wireless communications. The wireless connections provide simple, low-cost communications to the network. All that is required to get connected is a carrier account and the Gateway.

CO Modem Support
All of the modems support both async Legacy protocols and async PPP. The CO-Modem provides a dial tone for dial-only async devices. This dial tone simulator and associated modem allows for a simple, non-disruptive connection of these devices. The Gateway can route the connection based upon the data or phone number (DTMF recognition). The V.92 modem component of the CO-Modem can also be used as a normal async modem.

Frame Relay
The Gateway expansion cards provide the option for a 56K DSU or T1/E1 DSU with full Frame Relay or X.25 support. The software supports up to 100 Logical Channels (DLCIs) with flow control using individual Committed Information Rate (CIR) for each DLCI. Our Frame Relay support is certified to ISO and ITU standards by major network laboratories and is compliant with ANSI T1.617 Annex D, Q.933 or LMI Link Management. The ROLAND Laboratory certifies the X.25 to European NET2 standards.

Protocol Conversion
All of the JBM Gateway products support protocol conversion, and when it comes to protocol conversion, JBM is the industry leader with over 50 different protocols in our software library. Protocol conversion is necessary when converting a host to IP or introducing a new Transaction Switching System. Our Gateway products provide our customers with an efficient and non-disruptive migration to IP. The Gateways support conversion of most financial protocols. In addition, the Gateways support Data and Header manipulation allowing seamless access into many host systems. Below is a list of the most Common Protocols Converted to TCP/IP:

  • Bisync 3270
    		•
  • Uniscope
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  • SNA/SDLC LU0, LU1, LU2
    		•
  • Bisync 2780/3780
    		•
  • Poll Select TC500
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  • Visa I & II
    		•

For more information on this application or JBM Products, please contact us.

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