How techies used logic bomb to cripple Delhi airport

Three months ago, three techies who work in Bangalore created quite a scare when they disabled the Common Use Passengers Processing System which led to delays in the flights at the Indira Gandhi International Airport.

The techies, who are residents of Delhi, but work in Bangalore, crippled the system with a technique known as logic bombing. The techies, one of who is a woman, were arrested on November 16, are out on bail, even as the Central Bureau of Investigation continues to probe the matter.

At first it was being construed as a terrorist attack, but investigations have made it clear on Monday that these persons were demanding higher wages, and when they were refused, they resorted to logic bombing.

This is an embarrassing case for the Central agencies, since all the employees work in an IT firm which is sponsored by the Central government. Moreover, these persons were also involved in the project to set up the CUPPS, which was installed at Terminal 3 of the airport in New Delhi.

As a result, all passengers had to be manually checked in instead of an automated check.

At first, there was panic in the airport and it was believed that the attack was carried out by some terrorist groups. However, after thorough investigation and raiding the houses of the three accused, the truth came out.

Although not a terrorist attack per se, investigators say that this amounts to cyber terrorism, and as per the provisions available under the IT act of 2008, they could face up to 7 years of imprisonment if proven guilty.

An investigating officer pointed out that this was done on a very personal level, but did cause a lot of hardship for passengers. It needs to be taken very seriously since it does send out a wrong precedent as terror groups would surely try and attempt something similar.

A delay in the flights would mean a hit on the economy, something that terrorist groups would always want to do. However, if terrorists were to use a logic bomb in a particular situation, they would ideally require an employee to trigger it off.

Also known as the slag code, this bomb can be triggered off mainly by insiders in a company. One would have to be first involved with the programming, and only if he has proper access and knows how a particular programme works, can he trigger off a logic bomb.

Although it does not classify as a virus, it still does something similar. A logic bomb comprises a computer code which carries out a deadly activity to destroy a hard drive.

Apart from wiping out the hard drive, it could also be programmed to carry out specific tasks and the investigations would show that it was meant only to hit the CUPPS as it would cause delays due to manual check-ins.

History of the logic bomb would go on to show that it is something that is used only by disgruntled employees. It is a concept that has been devised in the IT world, and normally employees use this concept to wipe out data. In most cases, the logic bomb has been used to cause negative triggers.

The Delhi incident clearly points to an inside job, considering the history of the slag code and the manner in which it has been used in the past. Moreover, the security system at Delhi too was found lacking, thanks to lack of checks and balances.

In bigger set ups, it is often recommended that there is constant monitoring so as to check whether there are newer objects entering the system. Investigations would show that there was no proper check and balance which made the job for the trio much easier.