Honeypot - What it is, why it helps, and smart ways to deploy one

Honeypot

What it is

A honeypot is a decoy system set up to attract and watch attackers. It looks real - a login page, database, or server - but its job is to record tactics and block follow-up moves without risking your production network. Learn more in our 
honeypot explainer

Why it matters

Real users never touch a honeypot. So any activity you see is suspicious by design - perfect for early warning, threat research, and tuning defenses.

How it works - quick tour

  • Decoy assets imitate apps, files, credentials, or services.

  • Lures and emulation make it feel authentic to scanners and bots.

  • Telemetry captures IPs, tools, commands, and payloads.

  • Alerts and blocks feed your SIEM, EDR, and firewall rules.

Good uses

  • Early detection: catch brute force, web exploit attempts, and lateral movement.

  • Intel gathering: collect indicators to improve blocklists and playbooks.

  • Blue-team training: safe space to practice response on real attacker traffic.

Limits to know

  • Needs care so it cannot be pivoted into your real network.

  • Skilled attackers may probe and spot simple decoys - realism matters.

  • Signal volume can rise fast - plan storage and alerting.

Quick setup tips

  • Place honeypots in separate VLANs with strict egress rules.

  • Seed with believable but fake credentials and data.

  • Forward logs to your SIEM and automate IP/domain blocking.

  • Review hits weekly and refresh the decoy so it stays convincing.

    Glossary (A–Z)

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