CertiGuide to Security+  9  Chapter 1:  General Security Concepts (Domain 1.0; 30%)       9  1.5  Malicious Code

1.5.2  Trojan Horses 1 1.5.4  Worms

A logic bomb is a virus of some ilk with a time delay fuse. The most famous virus with a fuse was Michelangelo in 1992. More practically speaking, a really upset employee is more of a danger¹⁰⁷. They could install a program set to do something malicious at a later date, and then quit (or work their last day, if they were laid off), leaving the system to automatically fire off the malicious code days, weeks, or even months after they lost their access to the company’s computers. For that matter, this could also happen while they are still employed (but taking a vacation day, be in an all-day meeting, etc. – i.e., in a place in which they had an “alibi”), when the logic bomb “goes off”.

To guard against this occurring, it’s useful to have multiple programmers looking at the same set of code (either using multiple coders, a la “Extreme Programming”¹⁰⁸, or a two step “code” and “code review” process), and for change control processes to be in effect, requiring that someone other than the program’s creator be assigned the responsibility (and the necessary system access permissions) to put any code into production. As we’ll see later in the cryptography section, a useful tactic in helping keep a system from being abused is to require that multiple people be involved in activities that lend themselves to abuse, such as installation of programs on in-house production (or client) systems.

1.5.2  Trojan Horses 1 1.5.4  Worms