SET A TRAP FOR CYBER CRIMINALS: proposals from ENISA for the use of 'honeypots'
The European Union's security agency, ENISA, has published a new report on the use of honeypots in national cyber security. According to the report, honeypots can provide early warning of malicious activity in a Computer Emergency Response Team's (CERT) constituency, as well as help CERTs gain insight into the latest cyber attacks.
Honeypots are dummy IT resources put online to attract cyber attackers. They come in two main types: server-side and client-side honeypots. A server-side honeypot analyzes network port activity for signs of malicious attacks, while a client-side honeypot uses applications like web browsers to connect to remote services and monitors all generated activity.
The report from ENISA discusses the benefits of using honeypots in national cyber security, including their ability to help CERTs detect malware infections, new exploits, vulnerabilities, and malware behaviour. Honeypots offer an opportunity for CERTs to learn about attacker tactics, providing valuable information that can be used to improve cyber defences.
However, the report also highlights the need for highly skilled personnel to handle and maintain honeypots. The study indicates challenges in deploying honeypots, such as difficulty with usage, poor documentation, lack of software stability, lack of developer support, and a lack of standardization.
Despite these challenges, ENISA believes that honeypots can help CERTs thwart cyber threats. According to Udo Helmbrecht, the executive director of ENISA, correctly deployed honeypots offer considerable benefits for CERTs.
It is worth noting that the report does not provide any new information about honeypots offering early warning of malicious activity or providing an opportunity for CERTs to learn about attacker tactics. Similarly, the report does not mention any new benefits of using honeypots in national cyber security, as it has already been discussed earlier.
The report also does not discuss the risk of honeypots to production systems, as it was previously mentioned that honeypots do not put production systems at risk. Additionally, the report does not discuss the role of honeypots in helping CERTs gain insight into the latest cyber attacks, detect malware infections, new exploits, vulnerabilities, and malware behaviour.
Despite these limitations, the ENISA report provides valuable insights into the use of honeypots in national cyber security and underscores the need for continued research and development in this area. The report was launched on Thursday.
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