Honeypot
/ˈhʌn.i.pɒt/ · Noun · Security & Infosec · Origin: 1991
Definitions
A decoy system or resource designed to attract attackers, allowing defenders to study their techniques, detect intrusions early, and divert attention from real assets.
In plain English: A fake computer system set up to look valuable so hackers attack it instead of the real thing — meanwhile, security teams watch and learn their tactics.
Honeypots exist on a spectrum: low-interaction honeypots simulate services (easy to deploy, limited intelligence), while high-interaction honeypots run real operating systems and applications (rich data, risk of attacker breakout). Research honeypots study attack trends; production honeypots detect breaches.
Example: 'We deployed a honeypot database server with fake customer data. Within a week, someone accessed it — which told us we had an insider threat or a compromised credential.'
Source: spectrum / deployment types
Related Terms
- Red Team
- Blue Team
- Canary Token
- Anti-Ransomware
- Asset Inventory
- Attack Playbook
- Attack Simulation
- Base64 Encoding Attack
- Brute Force Protection
- Cold Storage
- CTI
- Cyber Operations
- Dead Drop
- Detection Signature
- False Flag
- Feature Abuse
- Global Threat
- Identity Lifecycle
- Identity Resolution
- Indicator Management
- Information Sharing
- Initial Access
- Intelligence Sharing
- IOC
- IP Intelligence
- Javelina
- Masquerade Attack
- Operator Security
- Ping Flood
- Poison Pill
- PowerShell Attack
- Profile Analysis
- Proxy List
- Reputation Score
- Rich Text Attack