In today’s #WayBackWednesday 8-bit history lesson, we sink our teeth into honeypots. A “honeypot” is a system that has been set up to look like a legitimate system, but it is used, instead, for other purposes. Set up on an internal network, these decoy systems are often used to detect or distract unauthorized users. Placed in the Internet, these systems are often used for research to learn the latest methods of attackers.
An early example came in 1986, where a honeypot was used to distract, slow down and catch a KGB spy. The fascinating story is described in the book, “The Cuckoo’s Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage,” by Clifford Stoll. For an exciting summary of the book, catch Malcious Life’s podcast episode, “The Invisible War” https://malicious.life/episode/episode-14/.
While there are entire commercial products that you can buy to make setting up honeypots “simple”, there are also other creative ways to establish detection mechanisms for your organization. Stefan Hager explores these in his BSides Munich presentation, “Would you like some honey with that?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PDnVw32PNQ
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