Cowrie (honeypot)

Last updated
Cowrie
Developer(s) Michel Oosterhof
Repository github.com/cowrie/cowrie
Available in Python
License New BSD
Website www.cowrie.org

Cowrie is a medium interaction SSH and Telnet honeypot designed to log brute force attacks and shell interaction performed by an attacker. Cowrie also functions as an SSH and telnet proxy to observe attacker behavior to another system. Cowrie was developed from Kippo.

Contents

Reception

Cowrie has been referenced in published papers. [1] [2] The Book "Hands-On Ethical Hacking and Network Defense" includes Cowrie in a list of 5 commercial honeypots. [3]

Prior uses

Best practices

Discussion and further resources

Related Research Articles

The Secure Shell Protocol (SSH) is a cryptographic network protocol for operating network services securely over an unsecured network. Its most notable applications are remote login and command-line execution.

Telnet is a client/server application protocol that provides access to virtual terminals of remote systems on local area networks or the Internet. Telnet consists of two components: (1) the protocol itself which specifies how two parties are to communicate and (2) the software application that provides the service. User data is interspersed in-band with Telnet control information in an 8-bit byte oriented data connection over the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). Telnet was developed in 1969 beginning with RFC 15, extended in RFC 855, and standardized as Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Internet Standard STD 8, one of the first Internet standards. Telnet transmits all information including usernames and passwords in plaintext so it is not recommended for security-sensitive applications such as remote management of routers. Telnet's use for this purpose has waned significantly in favor of SSH. Some extensions to Telnet which would provide encryption have been proposed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denial-of-service attack</span> Cyber attack disrupting service by overloading the provider of the service

In computing, a denial-of-service attack is a cyber-attack in which the perpetrator seeks to make a machine or network resource unavailable to its intended users by temporarily or indefinitely disrupting services of a host connected to a network. Denial of service is typically accomplished by flooding the targeted machine or resource with superfluous requests in an attempt to overload systems and prevent some or all legitimate requests from being fulfilled.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Honeypot (computing)</span> Computer security mechanism

In computer terminology, a honeypot is a computer security mechanism set to detect, deflect, or, in some manner, counteract attempts at unauthorized use of information systems. Generally, a honeypot consists of data that appears to be a legitimate part of the site which contains information or resources of value to attackers. It is actually isolated, monitored, and capable of blocking or analyzing the attackers. This is similar to police sting operations, colloquially known as "baiting" a suspect.

Linux malware includes viruses, Trojans, worms and other types of malware that affect the Linux family of operating systems. Linux, Unix and other Unix-like computer operating systems are generally regarded as very well-protected against, but not immune to, computer viruses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zombie (computing)</span> Compromised computer used for malicious tasks on a network

In computing, a zombie is a computer connected to the Internet that has been compromised by a hacker via a computer virus, computer worm, or trojan horse program and can be used to perform malicious tasks under the remote direction of the hacker. Zombie computers often coordinate together in a botnet controlled by the hacker, and are used for activities such as spreading e-mail spam and launching distributed denial-of-service attacks against web servers. Most victims are unaware that their computers have become zombies. The concept is similar to the zombie of Haitian Voodoo folklore, which refers to a corpse resurrected by a sorcerer via magic and enslaved to the sorcerer's commands, having no free will of its own. A coordinated DDoS attack by multiple botnet machines also resembles a "zombie horde attack", as depicted in fictional zombie films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Network security</span> Computer network access control

Network security consists of the policies, processes and practices adopted to prevent, detect and monitor unauthorized access, misuse, modification, or denial of a computer network and network-accessible resources. Network security involves the authorization of access to data in a network, which is controlled by the network administrator. Users choose or are assigned an ID and password or other authenticating information that allows them access to information and programs within their authority. Network security covers a variety of computer networks, both public and private, that are used in everyday jobs: conducting transactions and communications among businesses, government agencies and individuals. Networks can be private, such as within a company, and others which might be open to public access. Network security is involved in organizations, enterprises, and other types of institutions. It does as its title explains: it secures the network, as well as protecting and overseeing operations being done. The most common and simple way of protecting a network resource is by assigning it a unique name and a corresponding password.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Botnet</span> Collection of compromised internet-connected devices controlled by a third party

A botnet is a group of Internet-connected devices, each of which runs one or more bots. Botnets can be used to perform Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks, steal data, send spam, and allow the attacker to access the device and its connection. The owner can control the botnet using command and control (C&C) software. The word "botnet" is a portmanteau of the words "robot" and "network". The term is usually used with a negative or malicious connotation.

Shadowserver Foundation is a nonprofit security organization that gathers and analyzes data on malicious Internet activity, sends daily network reports to subscribers, and works with law enforcement organizations around the world in cybercrime investigations. Established in 2004 as a "volunteer watchdog group," it liaises with national governments, CSIRTs, network providers, academic institutions, financial institutions, Fortune 500 companies, and end users to improve Internet security, enhance product capability, advance research, and dismantle criminal infrastructure.

A network telescope is an Internet system that allows one to observe different large-scale events taking place on the Internet. The basic idea is to observe traffic targeting the dark (unused) address-space of the network. Since all traffic to these addresses is suspicious, one can gain information about possible network attacks as well as other misconfigurations by observing it.

Honeypots are security devices whose value lie in being probed and compromised. Traditional honeypots are servers that wait passively to be attacked. Client Honeypots are active security devices in search of malicious servers that attack clients. The client honeypot poses as a client and interacts with the server to examine whether an attack has occurred. Often the focus of client honeypots is on web browsers, but any client that interacts with servers can be part of a client honeypot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">H. D. Moore</span> American businessman

H. D. Moore is a network security expert, open source programmer, and hacker. He is the founder of the Metasploit Project and was the main developer of the Metasploit Framework, a penetration testing software suite.

Shodan is a search engine that lets users search for various types of servers connected to the internet using a variety of filters. Some have also described it as a search engine of service banners, which are metadata that the server sends back to the client. This can be information about the server software, what options the service supports, a welcome message or anything else that the client can find out before interacting with the server.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gameover ZeuS</span> Peer-to-peer botnet

GameOver ZeuS (GOZ), also known as peer-to-peer (P2P) ZeuS, ZeuS3, and GoZeus, is a Trojan horse developed by Russian cybercriminal Evgeniy Bogachev. Created in 2011 as a successor to Jabber Zeus, another project of Bogachev's, the malware is notorious for its usage in bank fraud resulting in damages of approximately $100 million and being the main vehicle through which the CryptoLocker ransomware attack was conducted, resulting in millions of dollars of losses. At the peak of its activity in 2012 and 2013, between 500,000 and 1 million computers were infected with GameOver ZeuS.

Mirai is malware that turns networked devices running Linux into remotely controlled bots that can be used as part of a botnet in large-scale network attacks. It primarily targets online consumer devices such as IP cameras and home routers. The Mirai botnet was first found in August 2016 by MalwareMustDie, a white hat malware research group, and has been used in some of the largest and most disruptive distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, including an attack on 20 September 2016 on computer security journalist Brian Krebs' website, an attack on French web host OVH, and the October 2016 Dyn cyberattack. According to a chat log between Anna-senpai and Robert Coelho, Mirai was named after the 2011 TV anime series Mirai Nikki.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MalwareMustDie</span> Whitehat security research workgroup

MalwareMustDie, NPO is a whitehat security research workgroup that was launched in August 2012. MalwareMustDie is a registered nonprofit organization as a medium for IT professionals and security researchers gathered to form a work flow to reduce malware infection in the internet. The group is known for their malware analysis blog. They have a list of Linux malware research and botnet analysis that they have completed. The team communicates information about malware in general and advocates for better detection for Linux malware.

Marcus Hutchins, also known online as MalwareTech, is a British computer security researcher known for stopping the WannaCry ransomware attack. He is employed by cybersecurity firm Kryptos Logic. Hutchins is from Ilfracombe in Devon.

BrickerBot was malware that attempted to permanently destroy ("brick") insecure Internet of Things devices. BrickerBot logged into poorly-secured devices and ran harmful commands to disable them. It was first discovered by Radware after it attacked their honeypot in April 2017. On December 10, 2017, BrickerBot was retired.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rafay Baloch</span> Pakistani ethical hacker

Rafay Baloch is a Pakistani ethical hacker and security researcher known for his discovery of vulnerabilities on the Android operating system. He has been featured and known by both national and international media and publications like Forbes, BBC, The Wall Street Journal, and The Express Tribune. He has been listed among the "Top 5 Ethical Hackers of 2014" by CheckMarx. Subsequently he was listed as one of "The 15 Most Successful Ethical Hackers WorldWide" and among "Top 25 Threat Seekers" by SCmagazine. Baloch has also been added in TechJuice 25 under 25 list for the year 2016 and got 13th rank in the list of high achievers. Reflectiz, a cyber security company, released the list of "Top-21 Cybersecurity Experts You Must Follow on Twitter in 2021" recognizing Rafay Baloch as the top influencer. On 23 March 2022, ISPR recognized Rafay Baloch's contribution in the field of Cyber Security with Pride for Pakistan award.

Chris Kubecka is an American computer security researcher and cyberwarfare specialist. In 2012, Kubecka was responsible for getting the Saudi Aramco network back up and running after it was hit by one of the world's most devastating Shamoon cyberattacks. Kubecka also helped halt a second wave of July 2009 cyberattacks against South Korea. Kubecka has worked for the US Air Force as a Loadmaster, the United States Space Command and is now CEO of HypaSec, a security firm she founded in 2015. She lives and works in the Netherlands.

References

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  2. Ziaie Tabari, Armin; Ou, Xinming (March 2, 2020). "A First Step Towards Understanding Real-world Attacks on IoT Devices". arXiv: 2003.01218 [cs.CR].
  3. Simpson, Michael T.; Antill, Nicholas (2016-10-10). Hands-On Ethical Hacking and Network Defense. Cengage Learning. ISBN   978-1-305-48068-1.
  4. Kerner, Sean Michael (November 3, 2016). "Rapid7 Finds Certain Cloud Risks With Heisenberg Honeypot". eWEEK. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
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  6. "SANS calls for admins to secure IoT devices as manufacturers drag feet". SC Media. 2016-10-05. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
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