Harrison City man sentenced to federal prison, probation in 'logic bomb' case

A Harrison City man was sentenced Tuesday to six months in a federal prison for inserting codes into computer programs he designed as a contracted employee for Siemens Corp. that caused malfunctions in which he was called in to repair, according to federal authorities.

David Tinley, 62, was ordered to spend two years on supervised release and pay a $7,500 fine, said U.S. Attorney Scott Brady.

Tinley pleaded guilty in July to intentional damage to a protected computer.

Between 2014-16, Tinley inserted “logic bombs” into computer programs, prosecutors said. A “logic bomb” is a piece of computer code inserted into a software system that sets off a malicious function when certain conditions are met.

That code caused issues approximately every three months. The Monroeville Siemens location then used Tinley’s services to fix the problem.

Tinley’s attorney said in court filings that the codes were added to create messages when Siemens employees were using the programs incorrectly. The company conducted a full review of its systems and Tinley paid $42,000 in restitution for that work, according to a pre-sentence memorandum.