Date of Award

2025

Document Type

Honors

Degree Name

General Beadle Honors Program

Department

Computer Science

First Advisor

Pat Engebretson

Abstract

This research quantifies the effect dynamic response has on the effectiveness of web application honeypot systems. While much academic effort has been directed toward honeypot development, few scholars have measured the effect of various honeypot tools and compared them against each other. This research measured the effectiveness of honeypot dynamism through a standardized experiment between a Tanner/Snare honeypot system, a Glastopf honeypot system, and a static honeypot system. Using the T-Pot framework, this study analyzed the duration of attacker engagement and their actions across various honeypots. Results show that the Tanner/Snare honeypot engages attackers in a fundamentally different way than the Glastopf honeypot, but this does not translate into a longer attacker engagement time. By contrast, the Glastopf honeypot engages attackers for longer in reconnaissance-based attacks but does not encourage further exploitation. This research assists cybersecurity professionals and honeypot developers in making informed decisions about where best to direct their efforts, improving the overall cyber deception landscape.

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