Cybersecurity Glossary

A heuristic analysis of email uses algorithms to recognize malicious patterns in emails, email attachments, or webpages. Heuristic analysis applies both practical and problem-solving methods to cybersecurity, using a set of guidelines that’s continually optimized. While signature-based protection relies on the characteristics of known threats, heuristic analysis can detect threats based on behavior. In order to be most effective, new heuristic rules need to be created regularly in an effort to thwart the latest threats. 

A honeypot is a cybersecurity tool used to trick cybercriminals into believing that they’ve gained access to an organization’s actual IT infrastructure. A honeypot is a recreation of an organization’s actual systems or networks that acts as a decoy for cybercriminals and is used to attract cyberattacks.

Honeypots can be helpful in keeping cybercriminals’ attention away from your actual assets, in addition to providing insightful information into the effectiveness and security of your legitimate IT infrastructure. Setting up a honeypot can help you glean information on the way cybercriminals operate, as well as provide you with details on where there might be gaps in your current cybersecurity measures.