How Honeypots in Network Security Help Prevent and Defeat Cybercriminals

Have you ever wondered if there is a way to beat cybercriminals using their style and methods? Many tactics are being developed by cybersecurity experts that help them think like a criminal. One such technique is known as honeypots in network security. This style of cybersecurity lures cybercriminals to a point where they cannot harm. Honeypots are also used to detect malicious software and even distract prospective attackers from the real servers. Honeypots allow you to identify and respond to an attack before malicious hackers can cause any significant damage.

The advantage of using Honeypots is that it allows you to mislead cybercriminals into spending their time manipulating intentional flaws while notifying your internal network security team of their attempts. Some of the information you obtain from these honeypots are more comprehensive than what you get from some intrusion detection systems.

In this article, we’ll examine the importance of honeypots in network security, honeypot methodologies, and how you can learn its use.

Importance of Honeypots in Network Security

Honeypots are just dummy software applications, network nodes, or computers deployed for the sole aim of being hacked. It seems like a poorly protected computer system with vital information and an easy target for cybercriminals. In reality, it is a dummy system detached from the organization’s network and carefully monitored by the security team. Honeypots are just one of the many cyberattack methodologies that network security officers use. The rising usage by hackers has made it an important part of new network security course.

There’s more to honeypots than wasting the time and efforts of a malicious hacker.

Defeat cybercriminals using their own techniques

Honeypots are incredibly versatile in misleading cybercriminals, especially when they find a way to breach the system. Honeypots can cloud and divert an attacker when loaded with traps. The attacker wastes their time trying to locate the real data or network system. Network Security team uses this time to their advantage and thwarts the attack.

Detect cyberattacks and allocate hackers a passive-fingerprint

Honeypots can be used to lure cyber-attackers because they look ‘weak.’ These weak points also serve as warning signs for the network security team. During an attack, the cybersecurity team can identify threats before they affect the entire network system.

You can also use it to allocate a passive fingerprint for each hacker. Honeypots give you better visibility of attacks as they are taking place because it logs a   during a session. It also discloses immediate alerts every time there is an attempted security breach.

Improve your organization’s overall security

You can improve your organization’s security layer (also known as defense in depth) when implementing honeypots with other tools like anti-malware, SIEM, firewalls, and IDS/IPS. This strategy will fortify all the security tools to prevent attacks. All you need to do is to feed important information on potential attacks.

Expose insider threats

It is hard for security tools to pinpoint malicious actors when attacks are introduced from behind the firewall through authentic account credentials and an organization’s IP address. However, honeypots can rectify these issues. If anyone accesses the counterfeit environment, the action is automatically considered a malicious attempt.

Streamline threats

Most security tools cannot differentiate between high-level and low-level threats. The number of false alarms is just too many. Consequently, the security team finds it difficult to prioritize threat warnings, while others ignore security alerts because of their frequency. Honeypots in network security add the advantage of   any activity with them can be considered unauthorized. A benefit like this is the reason why the technique is so invaluable. In the honeypot method, every alert supplied is taken seriously. Due to this reason, the security personnel is more efficient in their work.

Types of Honeypots to Prevent and Defeat Cybercrime

Honeypots are classified based on the types of threats they are able to detect and their interaction levels.

Types of honeypots based on the purpose 

Honeypots have different purposes. Your purpose will determine the suitability of the honeypot you use. Do you want to divert the efforts of attackers from the real targets? Or do you need insights to respond effectively to active internal security threats?

Types of honeypots based on their interaction levels

Another type of honeypot is those based on interaction levels. Interaction levels refer to the degree of interactivity the attacker has with the systems they are trying to penetrate. These are usually the most complicated honeypot systems to implement. Examples are:

◉ High-Interaction Honeypots: They mimic real-world applications and network systems, including simple functions, services, and operating systems with elevated levels of interactivity.

◉ Low-Interaction Honeypots: These honeypots permit limited interaction with systems as they run restricted emulated services with regulated functionality.

◉ Medium-Interaction Honeypots: These falls between the low and high interaction honeypots. Medium-interaction honeypots have expanded facilities when weighed with the low interaction honeypots. However, they have decreased application difficulties compared to high interaction honeypots.

Source: eccouncil.org