Top tips is a weekly column where we highlight what’s trending in the tech world and list ways to explore these trends. This week, we focus on ways to stop attackers and safeguard your organization.
It’s a classic warfare method to thwart attacks: deception. Enemies use deception tactics to combat their foes on the battlefield, and it’s a method that’s all too common. But deception in technology? What exactly is that? Is it even a standard practice?
It very much is. Cyber deception technology is used to mislead attackers, drawing them away from real assets, data, and knowledge within the company, luring them to fake assets. This also helps us understand what the attackers are targeting, providing better insights into their behavior.
However, this strategy should not be your first line of defense. Instead, it should serve as an additional layer of protection for your IT infrastructure.
We’ll explain the components of an effective deception technology strategy and why implementing one can be beneficial for your organization in three easy steps.
1. Identify critical assets and duplicate them
The first step is to create a fake version of your company’s important assets. This can include mimicked payment data, customer names with Social Security numbers or similar sensitive information, decoy intellectual property, financial details, and IT asset logs that can be tracked. When intruders attempt to hack into your system, they will assume the fake system is the real one so you can observe what they are trying to breach. This enables you to identify which assets and data need stronger security.
2. Have a complex deception system
You don’t want the hacker to recognize that it’s a fake system right away, right? Make it as realistic as possible. Duplicate but appropriately modify everything: links, networks, and data. Set up an alert system so you can identify when an intruder enters the fake network. This helps mitigate risk as early as possible. Real-time alerts are crucial in this strategy; they are essential for combating cyberattacks and analyzing them.
3. Monitor everything
The key to fully benefiting from this deception strategy is to monitor everything in real time. Understand what the attacker really wants, the methods they use, and how they’re navigating through your network.
With a system like this, it’s easy to study the behavior of hackers, which in turn helps you better prepare your real system for such attacks.
A final word
This blog is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to cyber deception technology and how it can benefit your business. This strategy is already used by many industries, including banking, healthcare, manufacturing, and more. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t deploy this technology in your business and thwart the cyberattacks that come your way.
