Honeypot refers to special, secured networks that are set up as a trap for hackers. Just as a honeypot attracts wasps, the digital honeypot is supposed to attract cyber criminals. These are distracted from other goals and at the same time demonstrate their approach, without causing any damage.
What does a honeypot look like in detail?
Honeypots are a great way to gather information about what hackers are doing, to improve existing systems and security measures. Therefore, they are used by authorities, the military, large research institutes and companies.
But what does a digital honeypot look like? From the outside, mostly unspectacular. It can be a separate server or an isolated network space that serves that purpose, only. A honeypot is set up to be as auspicious as possible from the point of view of a hacker. For example, it has fake security vulnerabilities or simulates visits to insecure websites. Since nobody is using this system, each access means an attack attempt and is precisely logged by special software.
Of prime importance in a honeypot is that hackers cannot do any damage from here. They must not have access to other servers or network areas of the company nor be able to use any of the available resources, themselves. The use of a honeypot is therefore recommended only to experts and should be well justified.
Where might I encounter honeypots in everyday work?
As long as you’re not a professional hacker, you will not encounter any digital honeypots in your day-to-day work. Nevertheless, you benefit indirectly from the existing honeypots: Usually, the information thus obtained is shared so that other companies, providers and the general public can better protect themselves. For example, the next time you update your Internet browser, this update likely closes any security vulnerabilities identified by the use of honeypots.
What can I do to improve my safety?
We strongly advise against setting up honeypots, ourselves. Talk to us about the topic. Then, together, we will weigh whether your knowledge-risk ratio justifies the use of a honeypot.
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