Virtual Honeypot Emulation for Malicious Object Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing honeypot systems require significant computing resources and complex setups, limiting their functionality on user devices and complicating their use for information security tasks.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for building honeypot resources using virtual environments that emulate user devices, allowing for efficient detection of malicious objects by selecting optimal virtual environments based on collected data, intercepting network traffic, and analyzing it in a virtual environment to detect malicious activity without significantly impacting the user device's functionality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional honeypot systems are deployed on dedicated computer systems, then detection capability of malicious objects is improved, but computing resource consumption and system complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates virtual copies of the host computer system environment through virtualization technology. Instead of requiring a separate physical honeypot system, the invention generates virtual machine instances that replicate the host's operating system, applications, and network configuration. These virtual copies serve as honeypots that can be deployed and managed without additional physical hardware, thereby maintaining detection capability while reducing system complexity and resource overhead.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables the host computer system to serve multiple functions simultaneously: it acts as both the user's working system and the source of honeypot virtual instances. The virtualization platform allows the host to generate, manage, and operate multiple virtual honeypot environments while continuing to perform normal user tasks. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for dedicated honeypot hardware and reduces overall system complexity.
2Reliability
If traditional honeypot systems are deployed on dedicated computer systems, then detection capability of malicious objects is improved, but computing resource consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the honeypot functionality with the host computer system by utilizing the host's existing computing resources to run virtual honeypot instances. Instead of allocating separate dedicated resources for honeypot operations, the invention combines both functions (user computing and honeypot detection) within the same physical infrastructure. The virtualization platform efficiently shares CPU, memory, and storage resources between the host system and virtual honeypot instances, thereby maintaining detection capability while optimizing resource utilization and reducing overall computing resource consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
By creating lightweight virtual copies of the host environment rather than deploying full physical honeypot systems, the invention significantly reduces the computing resources required for detection operations. The virtual instances consume a fraction of the resources compared to dedicated physical systems, allowing multiple honeypot environments to run concurrently on the same host without proportionally increasing resource consumption.
3Reliability
If honeypot functionality is added to user devices, then detection of malicious objects is enabled, but user device functionality is disrupted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the user device's computing environment into distinct virtual partitions. The virtualization platform creates isolated virtual machine instances that run honeypot functionality separately from the host's user-facing operations. This segmentation ensures that malicious activities captured in virtual honeypot environments do not interfere with or compromise the user's normal device functionality. The host system continues to operate normally while virtual instances handle detection tasks in isolated spaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention creates virtual copies of the user device environment that serve as honeypots, rather than modifying the actual user device. These virtual instances replicate necessary system components for detection purposes while the real user device remains unchanged and fully functional. Users interact with their normal device without any disruption, while the virtual copies simultaneously perform malicious activity detection in the background.
Data Source
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AI summary
Disclosed are a method and a system for building a honeypot environment for the detection of malicious objects in network traffic. The method comprises collecting data about a computing system; selecting at least one of a plurality of pre-built virtual environments for association with the computing system based on the data collected about the computing system, each of the pre-built virtual environments including an emulator configured to emulate the computing system; intercepting network traffic of the computing system; emulating the computer system in the selected at least one of the plurality of pre-built virtual environments using the emulator; and detecting at least one malicious object from the intercepted network traffic based on the emulating.