--- description: An Orlando man faces charges for planting a virus in the popular Whac-A-Mole game and other titles, effectively shutting down machines all around the world.... title: Whack-A-Mole Game Sabotaged By Orlando Programmer image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Business](/section/business/) * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) # Whac-A-Mole Machines Sabotaged by Orlando Programmer by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) Mar 2, 2011 12:20 AM CUT by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) Mar 2, 2011 12:20 AM CUT An Orlando man faces charges for planting a virus in the popular Whac-A-Mole game and other titles, effectively shutting down machines all around the world. The best part: He plotted this scheme so he could have a steady stream of repairs and a constant paycheck. Marvin Wimberly created a program that shut down Whac-A-Mole machines and over 400 other games manufactured by Bob’s Space Racers in Holly Hill, Fla. After a certain number of restarts, the machines would stop working. He was then hired to fix the machines – and took the opportunity to reinstall the virus so he would have continued business. According to Bob’s Space Racers, it cost the company $100,000\. The hacker proudly boasted to two people in the company that he created this malady, but it still took them a while to figure out what was going on. Wimberly “entrepreneurship” may cost him up to 15 years in jail under the charge of offense against intellectual property. More importantly: Those Whac-A-Mole machines are run by computers!? No wonder they keep outsmarting me! \[via [WFTV](http://www.wftv.com/news/26986709/detail.html?cxntlid=cmg%5Fcntnt%5Frss "undefined")\] **More on TIME.com:** [Valve Plots Living Room Takeover with Steam](http://techland.time.com/2011/03/01/valve-plots-living-room-takeover-with-steam/ "undefined") [Cancelled: Panasonic Cuts Down ‘Jungle’ Gaming Handheld](http://techland.time.com/2011/03/01/cancelled-panasonic-cuts-down-jungle-gaming-handheld/ "undefined") [Sony Drops Price on PSP to $130, so What Will NGP Cost?](http://techland.time.com/2011/02/25/sony-drops-price-on-psp-to-130-so-what-will-ngp-cost/ "undefined") Whack-A-Mole Game Sabotaged By Orlando Programmer ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7242608/whac-a-mole-machines-sabotaged-by-orlando-programmer/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7242608/whac-a-mole-machines-sabotaged-by-orlando-programmer/"},"headline":"Whac-A-Mole Machines Sabotaged by Orlando Programmer","datePublished":"2011-03-02T00:20:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T10:52:56.859Z","description":"An Orlando man faces charges for planting a virus in the popular Whac-A-Mole game and other titles, effectively shutting down machines all around the world....","url":"https://time.com/archive/7242608/whac-a-mole-machines-sabotaged-by-orlando-programmer/","keywords":["Tech","Crime","Hacker"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/archive/7242608/whac-a-mole-machines-sabotaged-by-orlando-programmer/","name":"Whac-A-Mole Machines Sabotaged by Orlando Programmer"}}]}] ```