Honey Pots
In computer terminology, a honeypot is a trap set to detect or deflect attempts at unauthorized use of information systems. Generally it consists of a computer, data or a network site that appears to be part of a network but which is actually isolated and protected, and which seems to contain information that would be of value to attackers.
Normally it is a server that is configured to detect an intruder by mirroring a real production system. It appears as an ordinary server doing work, but all the data and transactions are phony. Located either in or outside the firewall, the honeypot is used to learn about an intruder's techniques as well as determine vulnerabilities in the real system.Honeypots are highly sophisticated technologies used to observe and learn about hackers. Practical and commercial interest in these new forms of hacker defense is now hitting the mainstream.
There are many successful commercial honeypots, including ManTrap and Specter. Security expert Marcus Ranum notes in his Foreword, "Right now there are about a half-dozen commercial honeypot products on the market. Within a year, I predict there will be dozens. Within two years, there will be a hundred." Spitzner also covers legal issues, one of the most controversial subjects concerning honeypots, receiving extensive guidance from the Department of Justice in writing the legal material. The book, Know Your Enemy was written by a team of authors, and focuses on a special type of honeypot via a research project called The Honeynet Project. This new book is written by the acknowledged honeypot expert and discusses many different types of honeypot technologies. They are perfect companion books. Get a strong foundation with "Honeypots" and explore more details of honeypot deployment with Know Your Enemy.
Hackers of today, do not require much learning or effort at all. There are many 'over-night' hackers that grow daily one step at a time, looking to learn the next method on the list for finding their victims. Government agencies are not the only ones that setup honey pots. All a hacker needs to do is to put a proxy server up on his, or a victim's computer and wait for a few hours for a scanner to find it.
Within a day or two it is on a public list and his packet sniffer is working overtime collecting users credit card numbers, passwords and other personal information. While you use his open proxy server, every web page that you visit, every message that you send and every password that you type is logged. The Hacker Pots work the same way as the honeypots shown above work, only are being run by hackers. You never know when using an open proxy server if you are using a hackerpot or honeypot, but either way you can be sure that someone is watching you somewhere when you are on an open proxy server.
Tags : honeypots hackerpots
