Gartner: Deception is a Key Emerging Security Technology

Security is an active field with new technologies emerging regularly to address security issues in a deeper and more sophisticated way.

One of those technologies currently moving to the forefront is what’s called deception technology, which beats malware at its own game by deceiving it to defend the enterprise against it. The technology recently made the big time by being recognized by Gartner in a report—”Emerging Technology Analysis: Deception Techniques and Technologies Create Security Technology Business Opportunities“—as a significant new security technology.

The research firm said that although deception technology is still in its early stages, its role as a defense technology against hackers has merit, and larger organizations that want advanced threat detection and defense will begin to consider adding it to their arsenal.

“By 2018, 10 percent of enterprises will use deception tools and tactics, and actively participate in deception operations against attackers,” the firm said in the report.

Although deception itself is not a new idea in security, deception as an automated response to potential attacks represents a sea change in IT security and needs to be taken very seriously, the firm said.

“Deception techniques such as honeypots are not a new concept in security; however, new techniques and capabilities promise to deliver game-changing impact on how threats are faced,” the firm wrote in the report. “This research articulates how product managers can successfully use threat deception as a threat response tactic.”

However, for this to happen, companies offering the technology and other stakeholders need to educate companies on what exactly the technology it and its value to their security portfolio, according to Gartner.

A particularly interesting tactic in some of the new tools is their use of endpoints to lure would-be attackers and thwart their attempt at wreaking havoc, the firm said.

“A new class of products with distributed endpoint decoys is emerging with threat deception capabilities that can enhance our defenses,” according to Gartner. “In this new class of security products, distributed decoy systems are used to portray deception across multiple layers of interaction by attackers. Each of these layers and data elements serves as deceptive lures, and aids in the successful deception, disruption and/or misdirection desired against an attacker and its attack automation software.”

One of the companies cited as an emerging player in the field of deception is TrapX Security, a promising startup that recently raised $9 million in Series B funding to grow its business and channel strategy.

TrapX offers technology called DeceptionGrid, which uses emulations—fake assets that look and act identical to real assets—intermingled with actual information technology resources at scale in an enterprise network. The instant attackers touch an emulation, a high-confidence alert is triggered and the attack can be compartmentalized.

Other companies listed in the report as emerging in providing deception technology include Allure Security Technology, Cymmetria, GuardiCore, LogRhythm and Rapid7.