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Contractor admits planting logic bombs in his software

arstechnica.com

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Re: Contractor admits planting logic bombs in his software

#81

Post by ggggtez »

conistonwater wrote: post #48
mgleason_3 wrote: post #37

Wow, does 6-months in jail seem a little severe? How does one even get someone prosecuted for this crime? We hired a licensed plumber on 2 occasions - to install a sink and later a shower. We just had a different plumber out because the sink was plugged up. He pointed out that the prior plumber had installed the sanitary-t upside down basically guarantying it would eventually become clogged. We also had him look at t…

I understand it depends on whether the FBI can show malice, planning and intent, and the size of the damage ($42k in the Siemens case). So in your plumber case it's probably impossible unless it's like a pattern of fraud rather than just one mistreated client. If a plumber actually tried to make a fraudulent business model out of such behaviour, then I could totally believe they might get jail time. Furthermore, if y…

Right.

If you stole a car (often valued at less than $40k), you could have gotten 1-9 years in the USA (depending on the value of the car).

Re: Contractor admits planting logic bombs in his software

#82

Post by jlarocco »

mgleason_3 wrote: post #37

Wow, does 6-months in jail seem a little severe? How does one even get someone prosecuted for this crime? We hired a licensed plumber on 2 occasions - to install a sink and later a shower. We just had a different plumber out because the sink was plugged up. He pointed out that the prior plumber had installed the sanitary-t upside down basically guarantying it would eventually become clogged. We also had him look at t…

If he's purposely making mistakes to get work in the future then I don't think 6-months in jail is that bad. It's just plain fraud isn't it? Not to mention an expensive inconvenience for all of his customers who have to deal with his shoddy work.

On the other hand, it's entirely possible the plumber made an honest mistake.

Re: Contractor admits planting logic bombs in his software

#84

Post by narag »

mgleason_3 wrote: post #37

Wow, does 6-months in jail seem a little severe? How does one even get someone prosecuted for this crime? We hired a licensed plumber on 2 occasions - to install a sink and later a shower. We just had a different plumber out because the sink was plugged up. He pointed out that the prior plumber had installed the sanitary-t upside down basically guarantying it would eventually become clogged. We also had him look at t…

You're assuming the guy did that just to you. If he does the same in every installation, I'd say that six months is not enough.

Re: Contractor admits planting logic bombs in his software

#85

Post by ska »

zelon88 wrote: post #68
ChrisSD wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Warning: This being true, it can still be construed as "hacking" no matter how simple it is. Just because the barrier is easy to get over, it doesn't mean you're legally allowed to enter. This person asserted the spreadsheet was his "work product". Presumably Siemens's lawyers found this convincing enough to be wary of hacking around the password.

I have a different view. Considering the company employed "Person A" to create a spreadsheet, why would it be a violation to employ "Person B" to gain access to it in the absence of "Person A"? The company owns all of the technology and employs all of the personnel involved, no?

> company owns all of the technology and employs all of the personnel involved, no?

No, he's a contractor. So what they own precisely should have been defined in the consulting contract.

It may have been perfectly legal for him to password protect the output, much like using an obsfucator - but the time-bomb stuff is fraud any way you cut it.

Re: Contractor admits planting logic bombs in his software

#86

Post by bashinator »

orev wrote: post #67
elldoubleyew wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What was the case of the microcontroller detecting the counterfeit cable? I don't think I've ever heard of this.

APC does this on UPSes. It’s an extremely bad practice that drives people crazy. They use a standard connector, like serial, RJ45, or USB, but with a non-standard pinout and give you a custom cable. God help you if you throw that cable in a box with other standard cables. And if you plug a standard cable into this non-standard port, the UPS panics and completely shuts down, including anything you have connected to it…

I actually know why this is a thing! Originally, APC UPS's used RTS/CTS flow control on the RS-232 connector for communication with the host PC. They wanted to maintain this compatibility (which used a nonstandard wiring) when they later added the Smart-UPS protocol.

That said, there's absolutely zero reason to keep maintaining this ancient and dangerous option.

Re: Contractor admits planting logic bombs in his software

#87

Post by sporkologist »

jlarocco wrote: post #82
mgleason_3 wrote: post #37

Wow, does 6-months in jail seem a little severe? How does one even get someone prosecuted for this crime? We hired a licensed plumber on 2 occasions - to install a sink and later a shower. We just had a different plumber out because the sink was plugged up. He pointed out that the prior plumber had installed the sanitary-t upside down basically guarantying it would eventually become clogged. We also had him look at t…

If he's purposely making mistakes to get work in the future then I don't think 6-months in jail is that bad. It's just plain fraud isn't it? Not to mention an expensive inconvenience for all of his customers who have to deal with his shoddy work. On the other hand, it's entirely possible the plumber made an honest mistake.

Yes the plumber obviously went to upside-down plumbing school where he learned the profit-maximizing techniques of installing everything upside-down.

Re: Contractor admits planting logic bombs in his software

#88

Post by iso947 »

logfromblammo wrote: post #61
navaati wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the one hand, yes, that's crazy. On the other hand, an argument can be made that company accept proprietary software in binary form all the time, and this is no different ! Still a good laugh from the sidelines...

We deliver source to the customer, and include compiled binaries and installers as a (paid) courtesy. Without the source, the customer loses the ability to switch software contractors, which is against their procurement rules. Even if you don't have the clout of being huge, not controlling the source for business-critical software is basically putting the supplier's gun up to your own head. Companies that take binary…

Vast majority of companies rely on Microsoft and other proprietary software

Re: Contractor admits planting logic bombs in his software

#90

Post by roenxi »

rustybolt wrote: post #22

Shows the importance of code reviews. I wonder why this is illegal but it's legal for hardware to deny service or even break stuff when they detect you're using something they don't like (I'm referring to printers, but I also remember a case where a microcontroller would try to brick something when it detected a counterfeit cable).

> the logic bombs Tinley surreptitiously planted into his projects caused them to malfunction after a certain preset amount of time

Probably the timed aspect of it is the issue. Selling something that purposefully breaks in that way is malicious. Unless he comes up with a truly fantastic excuse but it doesn't sound like he did.

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