As cyberattacks become more identity-driven and automated, traditional security controls are no longer enough on their own. Attackers now focus on credential theft, lateral movement, and privilege escalation, often operating quietly for weeks before detection. Defensive deception techniques, such as honeypot accounts, hosts, and credentials, are emerging as powerful ways to turn attacker activity into early-warning signals.
The ProArch SOC is increasingly leveraging honeypots as part of detection strategies especially in identity and endpoint security. By carefully deploying decoy assets that should never be used in normal operations, we can detect malicious behaviour at the very first touch, often before real production accounts or systems are impacted.
ProArch SOC Observations
- Honeypot admin accounts and service identities are highly effective tripwires when integrated with PAM, EDR, and identity platforms.
- These decoy identities are never used by legitimate users, so any logon, process execution, or network access stands out as suspicious.
- We observe password spray attempts, credential reuse, and reconnaissance commands executed against these decoys.
- Early detection on honeypot assets helps clients contain attacks quickly, uncover misconfigurations, and strengthen identity hygiene.
What’s Happening?
Honeypots as Defensive Deception
Honeypots are intentionally exposed, non-production assets – accounts, hosts, services, or credentials designed to attract malicious activity. These honeypots are instrumented with strong logging and alerting:
- Decoy Accounts: Privileged-looking admin or service accounts created purely for detection. Any use indicates suspicious behaviour or misuse of tools.
- Decoy Systems / Services: Hosts, shares, or applications that mimic real systems but serve only to log and alert on access.
- Decoy Credentials / Secrets: Fake passwords, API keys, or vault entries planted in likely discovery locations (e.g., code repositories, configuration files).
SOC Detection & Response
ProArch SOC correlates honeypot activity with identity, process, and network telemetry to quickly differentiate false positives from true attacker behaviour. This enables rapid scoping of credential theft, lateral movement, privilege escalation attempts, and internal reconnaissance.
These deception-driven detections integrate seamlessly into our managed detection and response (MDR) services, giving organizations continuous visibility into identity and endpoint threats.
Supported Microsoft Deception Capabilities
Microsoft provides several supported deception mechanisms that organizations can adopt alongside ProArch’s strategy:
- Identity Honeytokens (Defender for Identity): Fully supported privileged looking decoy accounts for high-fidelity attacker detection.
- Azure Key Vault Honeytokens (Sentinel): Fake cloud secrets that trigger incidents when accessed – effective for spotting secret harvesting and unauthorized automation.
- Endpoint Decoys: Microsoft’s native endpoint deception has been retired; clients now use lightweight integrations such as Canarytokens for fake files and credential traps.
The Risks Honeypots Help Reduce
- Silent Credential Theft
Without honeypots, attackers can test stolen credentials quietly against real systems. Honeypot accounts expose this behaviour early.
- Undetected Lateral Movement
Deception assets placed in key locations can reveal lateral movement attempts that might bypass perimeter tools.
- Misconfigurations & Over-privilege
Honeypot telemetry often highlights overly permissive access paths, legacy protocols, or risky automation that needs remediation.
- Operational Blind Spots
By design, honeypots sit where attackers are likely to move. Activity on them frequently exposes monitoring or control gaps elsewhere.
Recommendations
Design Decoy Assets Carefully
- Create realistic honeypot accounts and systems that are never used in production.
- Ensure strong logging and restricted scoping so activity stands out clearly.
Integrate with Existing Monitoring
- Feed honeypot events into your SIEM, EDR, PAM, and identity security platforms.
- Build dedicated detections for abnormal logons, external access, suspicious tools, and persistence attempts tied to decoy assets.
Define Clear Response Playbooks
- Pre-define how your team will respond when honeypot alerts fire: validation, scoping, containment, and communication steps.
Continuously Tune & Expand
- Use honeypot telemetry to identify new attacker behaviours and refine detection logic.
- Gradually extend honeypots to cover critical identity tiers, high-value segments, and cloud environments.