CONFERENCE CISO Forum Virtual Summit 2026 - View all Sessions
Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

SecurityWeekSecurityWeek

Cybercrime

Programmer Heads to Prison After Planting Cash-Spitting Malware on ATMs

A former Bank of America (BOA) computer programmer was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison, after he installed malware on Bank of America ATMs that allowed him to suck out large amounts of cash from the machines. He pleaded guilty on April 13, 2011 and was sentenced this week.

A former Bank of America (BOA) computer programmer was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison, after he installed malware on Bank of America ATMs that allowed him to suck out large amounts of cash from the machines. He pleaded guilty on April 13, 2011 and was sentenced this week.

Bank of America Programmer Gets Prison time After Installing Malware on ATMSAccording to the Department of Justice, Rodney Reed Caverly, 54, was hired by Bank of America and assigned to work on a project involving the bank’s ATM systems. From March 2009 to October 2009, Caverly knowingly and with intent to defraud, exceeded his authorized access by gaining access to one or more protected BOA computers and installed malware on select Bank of America ATMs. The malware that he installed on certain ATMs enabled him to suck cash from the machines without any transaction record of the disbursements. Fortunately, his actions didn’t affect any customer accounts, as the code caused only the unauthorized disbursement of cash stored in the ATM machines, not tied to any accounts.

Caverly was ordered by a judge to pay restitution in the amount of $419,310.90. The restitution amount includes $284,750 Caverly stole from ATMs and $134,750.90 in costs incurred by BOA to remove from the bank’s malware-infected ATMs. U.S. Secret Service agents also recovered $167,010 of stolen cash.

Related: Don’t Panic Over the Latest Mac Malware Story

The investigation was handled by the U.S. Secret Service, Charlotte Field Office, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas O’Malley of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte.

Related Reading:

• Man Pleads Guilty to Hacking Neighbor’s Wireless, Sending Threats against Vice President

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

• Former Goldman Sachs Programmer Found Guilty After Stealing Computer Code

• Chinese National Pleads Guilty to Stealing Ford Trade Secrets

• Akamai Employee Arrested, Accused of Trying to Sell Information to Foreign Government

Written By

For more than 15 years, Mike Lennon has been closely monitoring the threat landscape and analyzing trends in the National Security and enterprise cybersecurity space. In his role at SecurityWeek, he oversees the editorial direction of the publication and is founder and director of several leading cybersecurity industry conferences around the world.

Daily Briefing Newsletter

Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing for the latest cybersecurity threats, trends, and expert insights.

Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

Daily Briefing Newsletter

Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing to stay informed on the latest threats, trends, and technology, along with insightful columns from industry experts.

NOW LIVE: CISO Forum 2026 Summit

Join as we bring together CISOs, senior cybersecurity executives, practitioners, industry experts, and other security leaders to share practical experience and examine the issues shaping enterprise cybersecurity strategy.

Register

Join to learn the four levels of architecting security into the agentic SDLC – from securing the code your developers' agents write to running a coordinated system of security agents you've built yourself.

Register

People on the Move

Cohere has appointed Jaya Baloo as CISO.

Jensen Huang has resigned as President and Chief Executive Officer at NVIDIA.

Sean Sweeney has become CIO of the City of Charleston, South Carolina.

More People On The Move

Expert Insights

Daily Briefing Newsletter

Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing to stay informed on the latest cybersecurity news, threats, and expert insights. Unsubscribe at any time.