What is a logic bomb?
A logic bomb is a piece of code left lying in wait on a computer that will execute under certain specified conditions and take actions the owner of that computer would consider malicious. The actual code that does the dirty work, sometimes referred to as slag code, might be a standalone application or hidden within a larger program.
While logic bombs are sometimes delivered via the same techniques that can infect your computer with viruses or other malware, more often they’re planted by insiders with privileged access to the system being attacked—and can therefore be quite tricky to detect.
Are logic bombs viruses?
A logic bomb isn’t a virus, but it could be spread by one. Unlike a virus, the distinguishing characteristic of a logic bomb isn’t how it spreads, but how it’s triggered.