Lure the cybercriminal to learn from his actions

"Rouse him, and learn the principle of his activity or inactivity. Force him to reveal himself, so as to find out his vulnerable spots."
Honeypots are decoy systems that attract attackers so we can watch what they do. They've been around for 20 years since Clifford Stoll described them in The Cuckoo's Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage.
In the early internet days (like back when we saw the Apple II operating system viruses spread through pirated computer games at Texas A&M University around 1981), honeypots were valuable ways to learn how networks were breached. We're still learning but we're struggling to keep up with the cyber weapons used by highly financed, highly organised international cyber gangs
The battle is not over and the intelligence challenge continues. By keeping current on how attackers operate, we can train people and build processes, technology and strategy to counter attacks.
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A honeypot traps an attack for analysis. |