Canary Trap Explained
posted by Anna Mar, June 05, 2013What Is It?
A canary trap is information that's given a signature for the purpose of identifying the source of a leak or information misuse.The canary trap has been used for centuries to identify the source of leaked documents. For example, authors might send slightly different versions of manuscripts to different publishers. If their work leaked out, they had legal redress.
Definition: Canary Trap
A canary trap is a signature encoded in information to identify the source of information misuse.
So What?
A canary trap can be used to identify sources of intellectual property theft and information security attacks. More importantly, it may serve as a powerful deterrent to the misuse of information.Examples of Canary Traps
A canary trap is any digital signature embedded in information that can be traced to a source such as an individual or an IP address. Examples include:- Watermarks: a unique watermark can be embedded in each copy of an image displayed or distributed to users.
- Coded Anti-Piracy: a video can be encoded with distinguishing patterns of dots.
- Serial Number: software or product prototypes may include embedded serial numbers that are traceable.
- Design Specifications: Product design specifications may include a unique false spec for each copy distributed to partners in a supply chain.
- Documents: Confidential documents such as movie scripts may include variations designed to trace leaks.
- Honeypot: a honeypot can be designed to give out different fake information to different attackers. This can be used to track down an attacker.
Next: Honeypot Explained »
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