Using fake data to protect against cyberattacks

Separating truth from fiction in these days of social media campaigns and so-called fake news can often be challenging. As a result, false data that appears valuable can influence people.

While such trends are a concern, deception can actually be a good thing for cybersecurity. Security teams are increasingly using fake data to deceive cybercriminals, thus helping the team protect IT infrastructures in new and innovative ways.

The approach works because attackers usually don’t know the details of a network or have the privileges they need to steal or encrypt information. This lack of knowledge allows security teams to place false information in locations with the expectation that a criminal will access it, allowing the team to lure attackers away from critical assets and into the trap of a decoy.

By letting cybercriminals think they are getting what they’re looking for, defenders can lead them to a deception server that appears to contain the database, web server, application, or other assets that the adversaries were seeking.

Read the complete IT Wire article by Jim Cook.