User Mode Linux (UML)/HoneyNet

Project Summary

Law enforcement consistently requests more comprehensive data on electronic crime to combat existing threats and become aware of new trends. The User mode Linux Operating environment is the software and operating system technology behind the ISTS Honeynet project, which addresses this need. The project strives to provide easily installed software-only emulation of a complete computer running on the Linux operating system. The honeynet effort is focused on turning UML into a production honeypot system.

The UML Honeypot enhancements developed at ISTS have supported many honeynet deployments, although, for many reasons, privacy concerns not being the least of them, most sites prefer to analyze their data in-house and only make public high-level abstractions and certain supporting details. In response to this trend, the ISTS Distributed Honeypot System project will continue to build upon the foundations laid by the UML Honeypot development and further automate the deployment and management of large numbers of honeynets.

Tiny Honeypot, originally developed independent of ISTS by George Bakos, has become an important component of the ISTS Honeypot toolkit where a lightweight service emulator is needed. It can be rapidly configured to capture new worms and other automated attacks, and has been key in the capture and analysis of several Internet-wide events, including Calypso, Nachia, Sapphire and SQL Snake.

• Project Leads: George Cybenko, Robert Gray, Susan McGrath
• Related Documentation:
  • Honeynets [PDF Format]
  • UML as a honeypot