Example 3: Logic bombs

In the year 2000, Timothy Lloyd was found responsible of causing $10 million and $12 million of damage to Omega Engineering, an American company specializing in the precision engineering for clients, comprising the US Navy and NASA. The Lloyd had been employed with Omega for eleven years, increasing to the post of system administrator, and was not only responsible for the day to day operation of the company’s computers but also for the process of disaster recovery.

In the year 1996, Lloyd became aware that he was to be sacked and wrote a logic bomb – a 6-line destructive program – which he installed on Omega’s servers. After ten days later, Lloyd was dismissed and his logic bomb exploded, destroying all the company contracts and proprietary software which was used by Omega’s manufacturing tools. Although Omega had a backup procedure, Lloyd’s account had allowed him to disable these recovery systems. The damage which was done by his logic bomb was permanent.

When the logic bomb exploded it wiped out information that was required for the company to operate. Due to the result of lost business, Omega was mandatory to lay off some 80 employees and found itself rewriting the software which had once given it a competitive edge over its rivals. In effect, which Lloyd managed to do, in most decisive manner possible, was to prevent the vital information which was being shared. Now we will define information security several ways. Some of them are stated below

Def1: Information security means protecting information and information systems from the unauthorized disclosure, access, disruption, modification, use, or destruction. The terms computer security, information security and information assurance, are often used interchangeably. These fields are related internally and share the common goals of protecting the integrity, confidentiality and availability of information; although, there are some subtle differences between them. These differences primarily lie in the approach to subject, methodologies used, and areas of concentration. Information security can be concerned with integrity, confidentiality, and availability of data regardless of the form the data may take: print, electronic, or other forms.

Def2: The protection of data against unauthorized access. Programs and data can be secured by using passwords and digital certificates to authorized users. However, passwords validate only that a correct number has been entered, not that it is the genuine person. Digital certificates and techniques which are biometric (fingerprints, voice, eyes, etc.) and authentication provide a more secure method. When a user has been authenticated, the sensitive data can be encrypted to prevent eavesdropping by using cryptography technique.