Honeypots in blackhat mode and its implications [computer security]

Abstract

Honeypot is a recent developed computer security concept which uses active offense to against attacks from blackhats (people with evil or illegal intents like hackers and virus-producers). It lures hackers to attack a seemly vulnerable but well observed computer system in order to learn about the tactics and tools used by the attackers so that we may improve the system security accordingly. However, a system developed with noble intentions may sometimes be used in evil applications. We discuss the consequences and implications of honeypots being used with evil intents. A honeypot system may be set up by blackhats to lure common Internet users to use a fake system in order to gain valuable information, like credit card numbers, from these users. Implications of such possible usages may damage the credibility of services provided in the Internet, especially those involving payment transactions and sensitive information exchanges. Unless we find ways to avoid such misusages, the consumer trust of e-commerce, e-health and e-government depending on the use of Internet services may be severely hampered.