The Role of Honeypots in Defending Against Cyber Attacks

Cyber honeypots mimic natural computer systems with applications and data that attract hackers. These decoys often include security vulnerabilities to entice attackers and allow cybersecurity teams to assess their behavior.

High-interaction honeypots lure attackers in and encourage them to spend more time within the environment, providing valuable insights into their attack methods. This information may help improve the organization’s defensive capabilities.

Real-time Observation

The speed of detection is critical. The longer it takes a business to notice cyber attacks, the more damage hackers have the time to do. That is why bringing real-time data to the cybersecurity process can help. It allows teams to catch threats sooner, mitigate them more effectively, and feel less like they are fighting a losing battle against cybercriminals.

Many people talk about the need for businesses to prioritize cybersecurity, but that doesn’t always translate into action. Cyberattacks are becoming more frequent and severe, making it hard for security professionals to keep up. Even if an organization has implemented all the right cybersecurity tools, it could still suffer a devastating attack.

For example, a malicious SQL injection allows cybercriminals to take control of database software and steal sensitive information, such as credit card details or passwords. Meanwhile, phishing emails bombard users with emails designed to trick them into handing over sensitive information. Increasingly, connected devices like routers, wearables, and manufacturing equipment can expand the attack surface for hackers to exploit. If they can infiltrate those devices, they can wreak havoc by taking over systems, overwhelming networks and servers with traffic, or threatening to erase data.

So, what is a honeypot in cyber security? The term “honeypot” refers to a decoy server or system set up adjacent to the systems your company utilizes for production. To assist IT teams in monitoring the system’s security responses and diverting the attacker from their intended target, honeypots are created to resemble desirable targets.

The framework defines an attack chain as a sequence of steps cybercriminals use to steal or damage data. It helps organizations anticipate and understand the threat landscape by visually representing an attack. This helps CISOs, fraud managers, and SOC teams to respond more quickly and effectively to attacks, repel them, and strengthen their defenses.

Early Warning

Early warning systems act like the canary in the coal mine, alerting your security teams to threats and intrusions before they become serious. These tools are essential to defending your business against cyber attacks but should not be used as a replacement for proper and robust cybersecurity measures.

The first step in implementing an EWS is identifying your business’s current threat intelligence. Using a combination of internal and commercial threat intelligence, your team can create an early warning system unique to your business’s network environment. This will help you to identify and respond to threats more quickly and effectively.

An early warning system can detect cyber-related activities, including malware propagation, DDoS attacks, and vulnerable open ports. The key is to combine technical data with information from multiple sources, such as low-level network sniffing and suspicious linguistic content on social media. Several techniques have been used to achieve this information fusion on computer networks for decades.

Cyber Security has recently launched Early Warning, designed to help businesses stay aware of potential cyber-attacks and improve their overall resilience. The service filters through trusted threat intelligence sources and offers organizations specialized alerts about malicious activity.

Deterrence

While firewalls are a good defense against outside threats, they don’t stop insider threat actors once they breach an organization’s perimeter. By replicating natural computer systems, honeypots help to lure and trap attackers so that security teams can study their behavior and gain critical intelligence.

A database honeypot is a fake system that mimics the functions of a production database, such as one used for financial systems or devices. It can also simulate the location of an accurate database, such as an energy company’s list of power plants, so that security professionals can observe how hackers try to access this information.

Other types of honeypots include web and spam traps, a collection of fake email addresses designed to attract automated spiders, and ad-network crawlers. These can be useful in detecting phishing attacks. In addition, they can also help in identifying where hackers are coming from and studying their techniques.

The intelligence gathered from honeypots can also refine and improve other cybersecurity systems. For example, by correlating honeypot alerts with other network and firewall logs, existing intrusion detection systems can be configured to produce fewer false alarms. However, weighing legal and ethical considerations before using any method that collects personal data is essential. These should include all applicable privacy and anti-hacking laws.

Prevention

When combined with firewalls and other security software, honeypots can help organizations detect threats they may have missed. They mimic natural computer systems and can also be designed with built-in weaknesses to lure hackers. This allows IT teams to understand their threats and develop a mitigation strategy.

The more a cyber attacker interacts with a honeypot, the more data can be collected on them. This information can reveal their attack methods and objectives. It can also give the organization an idea of its progress, allowing them to track what the hacker is doing on the system.

Place your honeypot outside your internal network firewall to get the most out of your honeypot. Then, all ports except those needing to access the honeypot should be closed. This will prevent attackers from escaping the honeypot and infiltrating your internal systems.

There are several honeypots, but the most effective ones are full-fledged production systems that appear part of a company’s production network. These honeypots look most realistic to attackers and can even contain mock confidential files and user information. Decoy databases can also be constructed to monitor software vulnerabilities and flag any attackers who try to exploit those vulnerabilities. This can save an organization valuable time and resources.