The Benefits of Honeypots in Cybersecurity

Many cybersecurity tools rely on signature detection, which identifies malware’s cyber “fingerprint.” While this is sometimes effective, it doesn’t address advanced and continually evolving threats.

Honeypots offer a different approach, using decoy systems to lure attackers and gather information about their behavior. This information helps organizations identify and respond to cyber threats.

Detecting Active Attackers

While a honeypot may seem unnecessary for companies, it’s essential to understand that hackers often use these tools to steal data and attack systems. By luring these cybercriminals into a controlled environment and collecting data on their activities, security teams can better understand how attacks occur and what steps are necessary to protect against them.

Honeypots can be placed within a network, including in the demilitarized zone (DMZ), to attract malicious bots and other automated attackers or outside the corporate firewall to monitor external threats. Some also mimic the functionality of software apps or APIs, such as a spam bot, to collect malware samples and observe attack behavior.

There are many types of honeypots, ranging from low-interaction to high-interaction, and each offers its advantages and disadvantages. For example, a high-interaction honeypot can engage cybercriminals for extended periods. It may contain extra systems, databases, and processes to lure hackers and provide helpful information on their tactics and techniques.

However, a high-interaction honeypot requires more resources to maintain. Its complex structure and ability to mimic production systems can be complicated for even skilled hackers to discern. The data collected by a honeypot server is sent to a central node that performs various operations, such as deploying multiple honeypots, controlling connections, organizing, summarizing, and analyzing data. It then forms event reports and attacker profiles for users to view through a front-end interface.

Detecting Inactive Attackers

As anyone in the digital forensics and investigation (DFIR) field knows, reviewing logs of security information and event management (SIEM) systems is crucial to any cyberattack response. Similarly, reviewing the data captured by honeypots can give cybersecurity teams insight into what attack types are being deployed and how they might be mitigated.

Honeypots can mimic various services and systems, including low-interaction, high-interaction, or mid-interaction models. Low-interaction honeypots emulate only a few benefits and remain idle most of the time, attracting attackers but requiring them to invest little of their time. High-interaction honeypots, on the other hand, are designed to distract cybercriminals from real-world targets and engage them for a more extended period, providing more extensive cybersecurity insights. Mid-interaction honeypots, which imitate a database and other applications, are even more convincing to attackers because they require more advanced commands and can generate various responses.

Malware honeypots are designed to attract and capture malware attacks, allowing analysts to study the malicious code and determine how it exploits vulnerabilities in data-driven applications. This information helps organizations refine their current anti-malware protocols and thwart future attacks. Despite their many benefits, honeypots must be deployed as a component of an overall cybersecurity strategy and backed by a strong business case to ensure the organization gets the most out of the solution.

Detecting Malicious Activity

Honeypots can capture attacks that typically bypass firewalls and help identify the specific malicious activity that’s taking place. This intelligence allows cybersecurity teams to design better defense systems and prioritize patching and preventive protections in a more targeted manner.

Honeypots are designed to mimic natural computer systems, including their applications and data. This helps to lure cybercriminals in and provide valuable information about them, which can be used to improve security measures in the organization’s live environment. Unlike firewalls, which only protect against threats outside the network, honeypots can also help identify insider threats, which can be more challenging to detect.

The type of honeypot an organization uses can vary, depending on the information it wants to collect. For example, a low-interaction honeypot might only offer limited services to the hacker and stay idle most of the time, which can deter advanced attackers from continuing their attacks. Higher interaction honeypots are designed to engage cybercriminals for extended periods, allowing researchers to observe their behavior and understand how they operate.

In addition, honeypots can be adapted to get around the fact that some hackers use encryption to hide their activities, enabling them to monitor their training even if they use encrypted tools. This helps make identifying patterns that indicate an upcoming attack easier, such as IP addresses from the same region.

Detecting Vulnerabilities

A honeypot is a decoy that mimics the look and feel of natural systems. It lures cyber attackers by simulating the data and systems they’re targeting, allowing organizations to track attacker activities, gather attack intelligence, and respond accordingly. This prevents attacks from reaching tangible assets, alerts them to the presence of an attack, and potentially thwarts large-scale criminal operations.

Depending on the setup, a honeypot can collect various types of information. It can identify how a hacker gained access to the system, what they’re doing (e.g., keystrokes being typed, whether they’re trying to gain administrator privileges), and even the type of malware they’re using. A properly configured honeypot can also log forensic-quality data.

As hackers scan the network for misconfigured or vulnerable systems, they will likely trip a honeypot and alert the security team to the presence of an attack. This can divert their attention from your plans and allow the team to identify attacker tools, tactics, and procedures (TTPs).

Honeypots also help fight alert fatigue by reducing the amount of legitimate traffic the SOC has to process. They can also distinguish internet noise from attack patterns, enabling analysts to spot telltale signs of an attack in the sea of data. They can also detect insider threats, especially disgruntled employees who may intentionally trigger the SOC’s alerts as part of a more significant attack.