Cyber Deception in Practice: Key Findings and Future Directions from UK-Wide Trials

The UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has completed a year-long, large-scale trial of cyber deception technologies, involving 121 organizations and 14 commercial providers. The initiative aimed to test whether defensive tactics like honeypots can improve threat detection, uncover hidden network compromises, and influence attacker behavior. Key findings reveal that while cyber deception is a valuable tool for increasing visibility and imposing costs on adversaries, it is not a plug-and-play solution; its success depends on clear strategy and proper configuration to avoid generating noise or new vulnerabilities. A significant barrier is inconsistent industry terminology, which confuses organizations, and most prefer to keep their use of deception covert, despite evidence that public awareness of it can disrupt attackers. The NCSC concludes there is a strong case for broader adoption in the UK and plans to develop new guidance and services to help organizations understand, implement, and measure the impact of cyber deception effectively as part of a layered defense strategy.

https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/blog-post/cyber-deception-trials-what-weve-learned-so-far

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