They may have ports that are vulnerable to a port scan, which is a technique for figuring out which ports are open on a network. Honeypots use security vulnerabilities to lure in attackers. This can then be used to strengthen the overall defenses used to protect the network. As the attacker breaks into the honeypot, the IT team can observe how the attacker proceeds, taking note of the various techniques they deploy and how the system’s defenses hold up or fail. The system can be populated with decoy data that may draw in an attacker looking to steal and use or sell it. A honeypot can, for instance, pretend to be a system that contains sensitive consumer data, such as credit card or personal identification information. It has the applications and data that cyber criminals use to identify an ideal target. In many ways, a honeypot looks exactly like a genuine computer system. As the attack ensues, your firewall, positioned between the honeypot and the internet, can intercept it and eliminate the data. This enables you to examine threats that get past the firewall and prevent attacks engineered to be launched from within a compromised honeypot. In many cases, it is best to put the honeypot behind the firewall protecting your organization’s network. It should also contain decoy files the attacker will see as appropriate for the targeted processes. In other words, it must run the same processes your actual production system would run. While the attacker falls for the bait, you can gather crucial intelligence about the type of attack, as well as the methods the attacker is using.Ī honeypot works best when it appears to be a legitimate system. This honeypot meaning points to some of the ways they can be used to direct attackers away from your most important systems.

Because they appear to be legitimate threats, honeypots act like a trap, enabling you to identify attacks early and mount an appropriate response.

There are various honeypots, and they can be set up according to what your organization needs. Honeypots are designed to look like attractive targets, and they get deployed to allow IT teams to monitor the system’s security responses and to redirect the attacker away from their intended target. In cybersecurity honeypots are decoy servers or systems that are deployed next to systems your organization actually uses for production.

Honeypot security