Deception Glossary

Browse 9 deception terms defined in plain English, from the cultural dictionary of computing.

9 Deception Terms

Cyber Deception
Cyber Deception is the use of controlled false artifacts, lures, and narratives to mislead attackers and collect high-signal telemetry. Security teams use it...
Deception Technology
Deception Technology is security tooling that deploys decoys, lures, and controlled artifacts to detect attacker interaction early. Security teams use it to...
Decoy System
Decoy System is a controlled host or service that appears valuable so attacker interaction can be observed safely. Security teams use it to enforce trust,...
False Flag
A deceptive tactic meant to make an intrusion, malware family, or campaign appear to come from a different actor than the real one. In cyber operations,...
Honeynet
A network of decoy systems and services designed to attract attackers so defenders can observe their tools, behavior, and objectives in a controlled way....
Honeypot
A decoy system or resource designed to attract attackers, allowing defenders to study their techniques, detect intrusions early, and divert attention from real...
Honeytoken
A fake secret, credential, record, or other attractive data item planted so any use or access attempt is a high-confidence signal of compromise or misuse....
Masquerade Attack
An attack in which an adversary pretends to be a legitimate user, service, process, or trusted artifact to gain access or avoid suspicion. Masquerading can...
Smoke and Mirrors
A setup that looks more capable or polished than it really is. In engineering slang, smoke and mirrors often describes demos, metrics, or architectural claims...

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