Cyber-attacks are a real and present threat for all businesses. With malware becoming more sophisticated and capable of outsmarting traditional anti-virus technologies, it is important for businesses to stay abreast of new security threats and methods of mitigating them.

Until recently security strategies have been mainly reactive, meaning that experiencing negative consequences has been the only way for threats to be detected and dealt with. The emergence of Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) and intrusion vectors mean that the cost of waiting for a breach to occur is simply too high. APTs lurk undetected for long periods, generally on the systems of specific targets, before stealing or corrupting high quantities of data. And common intrusion vectors such as emails sent with malicious links and attachments, fake or manipulated websites that download viruses manipulates a person, overtly or otherwise, into performing actions of divulging confidential information. Other tried and true methods of prevention such as patching by software companies are inadequate when dealing with zero-day attacks, where the malware targets the software vulnerability before the software vendor is even aware of it.

Deception technology may provide some hope for addressing APTs, intrusion vectors, zero day events and other new sophisticated threats as it is more proactive than traditional anti-virus software. Deception technology automatically deploys a network of camouflaged malware traps that are intermingled with and appear identical to real data, therefore deceiving the cyber-attackers. The fake data or assets are known to all legitimate users so when they are accessed it is clear that an attacker is present in the network. The real-time automation then isolates the malware and delivers a comprehensive assessment directly to the security operations team. This technology will shift the cost of cyber-attacks to the attacker, making it less rewarding for hackers, effectively changing the rules of the game entirely.

While deception technology is still in the early stages of development the research company Gartner has already predicted that 10% of enterprises will use this technology by 2018, with many actively participating in deception operations against attackers.