Spotlight On: Programming Techniques Used as an Insider Attack Tool
• SEI Report
Publisher
Software Engineering Institute
Topic or Tag
Abstract
This report is the first in a new quarterly series, Spotlight On, published by the CERT insider threat team and funded by CyLab. Each report will focus on a specific area of concern and present analysis based on the hundreds of actual insider threat cases cataloged in the CERT insider threat database. For more information about CERT's insider threat work, see http://www.cert.org/insider_threat/.
In this article, we focus on persons who used programming techniques to commit malicious acts against their organizations. We begin by providing a snapshot of the cases, then detail the actions taken by the insiders in each case. A summary of issues related to the cases follows, as well as references to best practices that might have been effective in countering these incidents.
Cite This SEI Report
Cappelli, D., Caron, T., Trzeciak, R., & Moore, A. (2008, December 1). Spotlight On: Programming Techniques Used as an Insider Attack Tool. Retrieved September 21, 2026, from https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/spotlight-on-programming-techniques-used-as-an-insider-attack-tool/.
@techreport{cappelli_2008,
author={Cappelli, Dawn and Caron, Thomas and Trzeciak, Randall and Moore, Andrew},
title={Spotlight On: Programming Techniques Used as an Insider Attack Tool},
month={Dec},
year={2008},
institution={Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University},
url={https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/spotlight-on-programming-techniques-used-as-an-insider-attack-tool/},
note={Accessed: 2026-Sep-21}
}
Cappelli, Dawn, Thomas Caron, Randall Trzeciak, and Andrew Moore. "Spotlight On: Programming Techniques Used as an Insider Attack Tool." Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University. Software Engineering Institute, December 1, 2008. https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/spotlight-on-programming-techniques-used-as-an-insider-attack-tool/.
D. Cappelli, T. Caron, R. Trzeciak, and A. Moore, "Spotlight On: Programming Techniques Used as an Insider Attack Tool," Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University. Software Engineering Institute, 1-Dec-2008 [Online]. Available: https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/spotlight-on-programming-techniques-used-as-an-insider-attack-tool/. [Accessed: 21-Sep-2026].
Cappelli, Dawn, Thomas Caron, Randall Trzeciak, and Andrew Moore. "Spotlight On: Programming Techniques Used as an Insider Attack Tool." Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Software Engineering Institute, 1 Dec. 2008. https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/spotlight-on-programming-techniques-used-as-an-insider-attack-tool/. Accessed 21 Sep. 2026.
Cappelli, Dawn; Caron, Thomas; Trzeciak, Randall; & Moore, Andrew. Spotlight On: Programming Techniques Used as an Insider Attack Tool. Software Engineering Institute. 2008. https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/spotlight-on-programming-techniques-used-as-an-insider-attack-tool/