Microsoft mobile honeypots invite online attacks
Microsoft is making mobile honeypots in a bid to attract malicious code before
it is developed into full-blown exploits, reports New Scientist.
Traditionally, honeypots are poorly protected systems hooked up to the
Internet to tempt attacks from hackers.
But rather than taking this passive approach, Microsoft has developed a mobile version — in the sense that the honeypots are themselves virtual PCs. These are marched around the Internet, dredging the Web for sites that launch attacks at visitors.
Browser-based attacks are increasingly common: a year ago, the Computing Technology Industry Association was already warning
it expected a massive increase and claimed that such attacks had already grown 25 per cent year on year.
Microsoft is calling its army of virtual PCs poised to take on this threat as ‘honey monkeys’. Once a site probes a machine and attempts to break through security features, an alert system springs into action. This triggers Microsoft’s forensics software, dubbed Strider, to analyse what is going on.
The results will give Redmond a better picture of the state of exploit code out on the Internet, and will allow it to inform customers of impending attacks.
It will also help to ensure the next version of Internet Explorer isn’t prey to the string of security woes that has so damaged previous incarnations of the browser, and led to alternatives such as Firefox and Opera gaining in popularity.
Each honey monkey is able to visit around 7,000 websites a day. But this might also prove its downfall. One Microsoft executive suggested the speed at which the machines churn through websites may allow hackers to develop mechanisms by which to detect it.
Source PCPro
Нет загрузок
