Performing Deception Technology Deployment

When to Use

Use this skill when:

• SOC teams need high-fidelity detection of post-compromise lateral movement with near-zero false positives
• Existing detection tools miss advanced attackers who avoid triggering threshold-based alerts
• The organization wants to detect credential abuse by planting fake credentials as honeytokens
• Network segmentation gaps need compensating detection controls

Do not use as a replacement for fundamental security controls (patching, EDR, network segmentation) — deception is a detection layer, not a prevention mechanism.

Prerequisites

• Network segments identified for honeypot/decoy deployment (server VLANs, DMZ, OT networks)
• Deception platform (Thinkst Canary, Attivo/SentinelOne Hologram, or open-source alternatives)
• SIEM integration for deception alerts (any interaction with deception assets is suspicious)
• Active Directory access for honeytoken account and credential creation
• Network team coordination for IP allocation and traffic routing

Workflow

Step 1: Map Attack Surface for Deception Placement

Identify high-value network segments where attackers would traverse:

DECEPTION DEPLOYMENT MAP
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Segment              Decoy Type          Rationale
Server VLAN          Fake file server    Attackers enumerate SMB shares during recon
Database VLAN        Fake DB server      SQL scanning detected in past incidents
AD/DC Segment        Honeytoken account  Credential theft detection
Executive Subnet     Fake workstation    Targeted attacks pivot through exec systems
DMZ                  Honeypot web app    External attacker detection
OT Network           Fake PLC/HMI        Industrial threat detection
Cloud (AWS VPC)      Canary EC2 + S3     Cloud lateral movement detection

Step 2: Deploy Thinkst Canary Devices

Configure Canary devices mimicking real infrastructure:

Windows File Server Canary:

{
  "device_name": "FILESERVER-BK04",
  "personality": "windows-server-2019",
  "services": {
    "smb": {
      "enabled": true,
      "shares": ["Finance_Backup", "HR_Archive", "IT_Docs"],
      "files": [
        {"name": "Q4_Revenue_2024.xlsx", "alert_on": "read"},
        {"name": "employee_ssn_export.csv", "alert_on": "read"},
        {"name": "admin_passwords.kdbx", "alert_on": "read"}
      ]
    },
    "rdp": {"enabled": true},
    "http": {"enabled": false}
  },
  "network": {
    "ip": "10.0.5.200",
    "hostname": "FILESERVER-BK04",
    "domain": "company.local"
  },
  "alert_webhook": "https://soar.company.com/api/webhook/canary"
}

Database Server Canary:

{
  "device_name": "DB-ARCHIVE-02",
  "personality": "linux-mysql",
  "services": {
    "mysql": {
      "enabled": true,
      "port": 3306,
      "databases": ["customer_pii", "payment_archive"],
      "alert_on_login_attempt": true
    },
    "ssh": {
      "enabled": true,
      "port": 22,
      "alert_on_login_attempt": true
    }
  },
  "network": {
    "ip": "10.0.10.50",
    "hostname": "db-archive-02"
  }
}

Step 3: Deploy Honeytokens in Active Directory

Create fake privileged accounts that should never be used:

# Create honeytoken service account
New-ADUser -Name "svc_sql_backup" `
    -SamAccountName "svc_sql_backup" `
    -UserPrincipalName "svc_sql_backup@company.local" `
    -Description "SQL Backup Service Account - DO NOT DELETE" `
    -AccountPassword (ConvertTo-SecureString "FakeP@ssw0rd2024!" -AsPlainText -Force) `
    -Enabled $true `
    -PasswordNeverExpires $true `
    -CannotChangePassword $true

# Add to a group that looks attractive (but monitor for any use)
Add-ADGroupMember -Identity "Domain Admins" -Members "svc_sql_backup"

# Place cached credentials on decoy workstation
# (Mimikatz/credential dumping will find these)
cmdkey /add:fileserver-bk04.company.local /user:company\svc_sql_backup /pass:FakeP@ssw0rd2024!

Monitor honeytoken usage in Splunk:

index=wineventlog sourcetype="WinEventLog:Security"
(EventCode=4624 OR EventCode=4625 OR EventCode=4648 OR EventCode=4768 OR EventCode=4769)
TargetUserName="svc_sql_backup"
| eval alert_severity = "CRITICAL"
| eval alert_message = "HONEYTOKEN ACCOUNT USED — Likely credential theft detected"
| table _time, EventCode, src_ip, ComputerName, TargetUserName, Logon_Type, alert_message

Step 4: Deploy Canary Files and Documents

Plant tracked documents that beacon when opened:

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