How does a logic bomb work?
In December 2006, an ex-employee of the financial company UBS PaineWebber was sentenced to eight years in prison and more than $3 million in restitution for planting a logic bomb in UBS’s computer network in 2002. When the bomb went off, 1,000 computers lost critical files as the code started deleting data. The reportedly disgruntled employee, Roger Duronio, had counted on this causing the company’s stock price to drop. He invested $23,000 in put option contracts, meaning he would’ve earned money from a hit to UBS stock. The stock price didn’t budge after the attack. Duronio’s logic bomb only earned him jail time and more money in payback than he could ever afford. A logic bomb, also called slag code because all that’s left after it detonates is computer slag, is not the same thing as a virus, although it often behaves in a similar manner.
