TechNewsWorld: Deception in Cybersecurity—A Double-Edged Sword
Deception involves misleading tactics designed to trick adversaries into revealing their intentions or gaining unauthorized access, making it a dual-edged sword in the cyber realm. Deception is a key weapon for black hat hackers, but it’s also a powerful defense in cybersecurity, as shown by Microsoft’s clever use of deception technology.
Vincalek on Deception in Cybersecurity
TechNewsWorld recently reached out to 555vCTO.com founder Vaclav Vincalek to get his thoughts on the effectiveness of deception in cybersecurity.
“Deception really works best when organizations combine the strategy with other security measures. Businesses shouldn’t rely on deception alone to combat all phishing attacks,” says Vaclav Vincalek, a virtual CTO and founder of 555vCTO, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Microsoft's Deception Initiative
According to TechNewsWorld, at a BSides event earlier this year in Exeter, England, Ross Bevington, Microsoft’s "head of deception," revealed an initiative designed to attract cybercriminals into realistic honeypot environments within Microsoft’s Azure cloud. This project aims to gather intelligence on these attackers and disrupt their activities.
Microsoft reports that it monitors around 25,000 phishing sites daily, providing honeypot credentials to about 20% of them. When an attacker accesses the fake tenant, all their actions are recorded, allowing Microsoft to analyze their tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTP).
Roger Grimes, a defense evangelist at KnowBe4, told TechNewsWorld, “Having worked at Microsoft for 11 years and deployed deception technology for various clients, this appears to be a significant large-scale deception initiative.”
The Realities of Deception in Cybersecurity
The article goes on to explain how Microsoft has shown that deception can be a powerful strategy for combating cybercriminals, but it's not suitable for every organization.
Vincalek pointed out that implementing deception tactics requires significant resources, proper setup, and ongoing monitoring. He also raised the important question of how to effectively use the gathered information. “It needs to be properly set up, and then you need manpower to monitor it,” he told TechNewsWorld. “And, of course, the question is, what do you do with the information?”
Grimes complimented Microsoft and other large organizations for their commitment to using deception for research and learning, which ultimately improves security for everyone. While he appreciates deception technologies, he noted that they might not be the best approach for most organizations dealing with phishing. However, Microsoft's application of these tactics to stay ahead of evolving threats is certainly commendable.
A Strategic Defense Against Phishing
According to TechNewsWorld, while not every organization may adopt deception to combat phishing, it can be a highly effective strategy for those that do. Shawn Loveland from Resecurity highlights that deception acts as a powerful defense by using fake elements—such as decoy emails, websites, or credentials—to mislead attackers and reveal their tactics without risking real data.
Vincalek added that for those using deception to tackle phishing, it’s most effective when integrated with other security strategies. He stressed that businesses should not rely on just deception to address all phishing threats.
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