Logic Bomb

One of the oldest types of program threat, predating viruses and worms is the Logic Bomb. The Logic Bomb is code embedded in some legitimate program that is set to ‘explode’ when certain conditions are met. E.g. of conditions that can be used to trigger for a Logic Bomb are the presence or absence of certain files, a particular day of a week or date, or a particular user running the application. Once triggered, a bomb may alter or delete data or files, cause a machine halt, or do some other damage. A striking example of how Logic Bombs can be employed was the cars of Tim Lloyd, who was convicted of setting Logic Bomb that cost his employer, Omega Engineering more than $10 million, derailed its corporate growth strategy, and eventually led to the layoff of 80 workers [GAUD00]. Ultimately, Lloyd was sentenced to 41 months in prison and ordered to pay $2 million in restitution.