Honeypot

What is a honeypot?

In cybersecurity, a honeypot is an intentionally exposed and monitored system that mimics a real asset - such as a server, application, or service - to lure attackers. Its purpose is not production use, but observation, detection, and analysis of malicious behavior.

Any interaction with a honeypot is considered suspicious by design.

Why honeypots matter

Honeypots are valuable because they:

• Detect attacks early with low false positives
• Reveal attacker techniques, tools, and intent
• Improve threat intelligence and visibility
• Help validate detection and response capabilities
• Distract attackers from real assets

They provide insight that traditional defenses may miss.

How honeypots work

A typical honeypot setup:

• Exposes a fake but realistic service
• Monitors all interactions and commands
• Logs attacker behavior in detail
• Alerts security teams on access
• Feeds data into analysis or SOC tools

Because no legitimate users should access it, alerts are high-confidence.

Types of honeypots

Honeypots are commonly classified by interaction level:

Low-interaction honeypots

• Simulate limited services; easier to deploy and safer.

High-interaction honeypots

• Real systems with full OS/services; richer data but higher risk.

They can also be classified by purpose (research vs production).

Honeypots vs honeynets

• Honeypot – a single decoy system
• Honeynet – a network of multiple honeypots simulating an environment

Honeynets provide broader visibility into attack chains.

Common honeypot use cases

Honeypots are used for:

• Detecting scanning and brute-force activity
• Studying malware behavior
• Identifying zero-day or novel attack patterns
• Gathering threat intelligence
• Training SOC analysts
• Testing incident response playbooks

They are widely used by researchers and enterprises.

Honeypots in SOC and detection

In a SOC context, honeypots:

• Generate high-signal alerts
• Reduce noise compared to traditional IDS
• Help validate SIEM/XDR detections
• Support proactive threat hunting

They complement, not replace, other security controls.

Security considerations

Honeypots must be carefully managed:

• Isolated from production systems
• Strictly monitored and contained
• Limited outbound connectivity
• Regularly updated and reviewed

A compromised honeypot must never become a pivot point.

Advantages and limitations

Advantages

• High-confidence detection
• Deep attacker insight
• Low false positives

Limitations

• Do not stop attacks by themselves
• Require monitoring and expertise
• Limited coverage of attack surface
• Potential risk if misconfigured

Honeypots are a detection and research tool, not a defense layer.

Common misconceptions

• "Honeypots automatically block attackers"
• "Honeypots are illegal"
• "Only researchers use honeypots"
• "Honeypots replace IDS or EDR"