Lure Me In Honey …
Hackers are constantly finding creative ways to penetrate a network to extract sensitive data. Imagine if there was a way to entrap hackers in a fake network environment and get front-row seats to witness their attack tactics. Well, there is a way and it’s called honeypots! Honeypots are decoy environments set up near the actual network to lure hackers and gather insights into their attack methods. Once the hacker is inside the honeypot security teams can monitor their activities and help keep them from reaching the real network.
Main Honeypot Types
Production
This type of honeypot is very popular due to how relatively easy it is to implement and the amount of information gathering it does. It collects IP addresses, traffic volume, intrusion date and time, etc. It is commonly used by corporations, private businesses, politicians, and many others.
Research
A research honeypot is very sophisticated and collects various details about attack techniques used. It is commonly used by governments, intelligence agencies, research organizations, and more. This type of honeypot is great at providing a deeper insight into how attackers perform attacks and the techniques they use.
Specialized Honeypot Types
Malware
The environment is exposed to known vulnerabilities to attract attacks and gather intelligence to better understand how attackers execute these attacks. Organizations can use the information gathered and make necessary changes to strengthen their security posture.
Spam
Focuses on capturing spam emails by creating a dedicated spam email address that can be scrapped by attackers using an email harvester. Once the attacker has the email address they will begin sending spam emails. The information gathered can be used to block the sender and similar emails.
Database
Houses fake datasets in an environment vulnerable to software and architecture structures to attract attackers. Information is gathered on injection attack techniques, credential hijacking, and various similar attacks.
Spider
This honeypot targets web and ad-network crawlers to collect the necessary information to help better understand malicious bots and blocking methods.
Honeypot Complexity Classification
Low-interaction
A low-interaction honeypot complexity environment collects basic information about an attacker as it contains low resources which results in advanced attackers easily spotting them. It is a convenient and commonly used complexity due to how easy it is to set up and maintain.
High-interaction
A high-interaction honeypot complexity environment consists of multiple levels making it interactive to hold an attacker’s attention. Implementing a “honeywall” or perimeter around the honeypot is highly recommended to protect the real network as it allows the security team to control the inbound/outbound traffic.
Pure
A pure honeypot complexity environment is a full-scale environment mimicking the real production environment making it highly interactive. This complexity allows the security team to track the attackers’ activity and is mostly used for research purposes.
And Then There are Honeynets
A honeynet consists of two or more interconnected honeypots and they are designed to collect data from sophisticated attacks like ransomware and DDoS. Honeynets offer a more realistic feel for attackers making them believe they are successfully moving from one point to another. This allows the security team to gather information on the techniques attackers use to launch sophisticated attacks and how they move about once inside the network.
Benefits & Risks
Benefits
Test incident response
Slow down or deter attackers
Gather intelligence and use it to strengthen the security posture
Risks
Cannot detect data breaches
Improper configuration can lead to attackers breaching the real network
Attackers can use false attacks on honeypots to distract the security team from a real attack
Sticky Situation…
Honeypots enhance cybersecurity by providing intelligence to organizations and enabling researchers to study attack techniques and attacker methods. These controlled environments allow malicious actors to launch attacks without causing real damage, offering insights unattainable until after a data breach. However, honeypots also carry risks, and acknowledging them and their limitations is crucial to keeping the real network secure.