Give hackers a taste of their own medicine with a honeypot
Ever heard of the term honeypot? It’s very well possible you’ve never heard of it before. No worries! In this article we’ll explain what a honeypot is, how it can improve the cybersecurity of your organization and what the advantages are.
What is a honeypot?
Let’s start with the basics. A honeypot is a computer, or several, intended to trap hackers. This computer contains “precious data” that is attractive to hackers. Vulnerabilities are deliberately exposed in this computer’s system, making it an easy target for hackers. What they don’t know is that this system is disconnected from the rest of the network and is carefully monitored. Like bees that gravitate to honey, a honeypot will lure hackers.
The purpose of a honeypot
A honeypot lures hackers into a trap, but that’s not all. A honeypot collects important information about the behaviour and motives of hackers, or cyber criminals. This can include finding out the hacker’s IP address, location and, ironically, the passwords used. In addition, a honeypot also provides insight into which techniques are used by hackers to log in and where the stolen data goes.
Advantages of a honeypot
A honeypot provides several benefits for organizations. Below are a few examples:
- An affordable solution: a honeypot is an inexpensive solution to keep hackers out. In addition, a honeypot – or several honeypots – does/do not require hours of installation. It’s fast, simple and affordable.
- Provides insight into security: a honeypot is especially valuable for organizations that are actively working on improving their security. By monitoring a honeypot, you get valuable information about cyberattacks. Use the information, for example, to create security awareness among staff. The information that you can extract from a honeypot also shows where the weaknesses in the security of the organization are. There’s work to do!
What to do in case of an attack
Setting up a honeypot correctly can be done with a professional. Maybe you have an expert inside the organization, but you can also hire an external expert. Once the honeypot has been set up, it’s the hackers’ turn. What’s the next step once the honeypot is attacked? Calling an expert is always wise in a situation like this. Someone who can help set up a honeypot correctly in the first place, but can also help when a hacker has struck. Such an expert can tell you exactly whether there are other risks and where security needs to be tightened. Sometimes it is also possible that an employee accidentally stumbled upon the honeypot, creating a false alarm. Nevertheless, calling in an expert – such as OpenSight – can’t hurt.