How Ransomware Hackers Can Be Fooled by Deception Technology

Quick Take

Ransomware hackers thrive on low-hanging fruit — easy targets with soft defenses. But what if we can waste their time, trigger alarms, and fail before the thought of approaching actual assets? This is where Enhanced Deception Technology enters the picture.

Through cyber traps—honeypots, fake identities, lure networks—we can redirect attackers, learn about their techniques, and strengthen our defenses. I’ve witnessed this firsthand when we created deceptive environments for clients that wasted hours (or days) for ransom crews running traps that went nowhere. And they didn’t even realize they were being played.

I’ll explain what deception technology is, what it does, and why your ransomware defense strategy should include it.

What is Deception Technology?

I’ve worked in cybersecurity long enough to learn one thing: attackers thrive on predictability. In that predictability, they expect systems to act a certain way. They want users to panic and pay ransoms. They anticipate that admins will be working around the clock to recover. Take those expectations and break them apart, this is when we move on to deception technology.

Security is about more than simply blocking attacks. This is a matter of battling mind games with hackers. Whereas firewalls and endpoint protection (which you should have in place anyway) offer some level of protection, deception technology introduces a further barrier by seeding fake assets—real in appearance but entirely useless to attackers.

This includes:

• Honeypots – Fake systems with the purpose of enticing attackers.
• Decoy Files — Appear as important documents, but notify you when they’re accessed.
• Phony Write up — Passwords that look plausible but merely demonstrate hacker action.
• Fake Admin Panels – The attackers will reveal themselves to you before causing any substantial damage.

If you’ve ever seen a fake storefront in a mall being built, you get the idea: it looks real, but there’s nothing behind it. Hackers hit these traps rather than the real data, and that works to our advantage.

How Honeypots Work

Let’s get into honeypots — because I love ’em.

Why are honeypots effective for this? I mean, I’ve used honeypots since the early 2000s when we had worms like Slammer. They were simpler in those days — virtual tour guides like dumb servers sitting on some network, waiting for someone to poke at them. Fast forward to today and honeypots are significantly more advanced.

They work by mimicking actual targets:

1. Low-Interaction Honeypots – These act like services but don’t facilitate in-depth interaction. Ideal for capturing automated attacks.
2. Cyberscale Configuration High-Interaction Honeypots – Full-interaction with the potential to replicate an actual, real system. Great for studying attacker behavior — but dangerous if not properly isolated.
3. Client-Side Honeypots – Created to trap attacks aimed at end users rather than servers. Think phishing traps.

And the best part is attackers often can’t tell the difference until it’s too late. We collect more data the longer that they interact with a honeypot:

• What tools they’re using
• Which vulnerabilities they’re targeting
• Their entry methods

That intelligence bolsters actual defenses. And it takes time from the hacker, which is always a plus.

Ransomware Tactics You Need to Know About

Hey, the ransomware actors are not the script kiddies anymore. Groups, such as Conti, LockBit, and Black Basta, operate as businesses — complete with playbooks, automation, even customer service (no kidding, they have help desks for their victims).

So how does deception technology work against these adversaries?

Here’s how we’re applying it in practice:

1. Fake High-Value Targets

   While working with three separate banks recently, we spun up decoy servers named as if they contained sensitive data. Things like:

   • Financial_Records_2024
   • Admin_Strategy_Plan
   • Payroll_Account_List

   Hackers went right for them. These were traps — triggering silent alarms and logging every move before they even hit the firm’s real network.

2. Breadcrumb Trails

   We embedded fake credentials within phishing-resistant password managers (yes, we warned the client’s IT teams first). When would-be attackers attempted to use them, it directed them to a phony VPN portal — logging everything for their perusal, showing their source before shutting them down completely.

3. Ransomware Sinkholes

   Complete fake SMB shares filled with fake files for the automated attackers running Pay2Key and whatever else running in their gibber process. The second encryption begins? The traps are activated instantaneously, terminating the attack before it can propagate further.

   Would this end all ransomware? No. But anything that makes an attacker take longer and gives defenders more time is winnable.

Deception Security Services by PJ Networks

Here at PJ Networks, we have been implementing deception-based defenses for many years. Why? Because traditional security just isn’t cutting it anymore.

Here’s what we offer:

• Ransomware Honeypots — Decoy files and systems that warn us when interacted with.
• Credential Traps – Dummy logins designed to detect unauthorized access attempts.
• Network Decoys – Piss off attackers with decoy infrastructure they can never take down.
• Threat Intel-Driven Deception – We watch how the ransomware groups operate and continuously adjust our traps.

For example, recently, we assisted a global financial institution in constructing a comprehensive deception layer within its Zero Trust architecture. Result? Five hours of privilege escalation flowing up a rubberhose — for a ransomware gang, with no idea they were living inside a sandbox the whole time. By the time they realized that something was amiss, the bank had already frozen them out.

That’s what deception gives security teams: An advantage.

Conclusion

Ransomware isn’t going away. The attackers are getting smarter, and so are we.

Deception technology is not going to replace firewalls, EDR, or good security hygiene — it’s just another layer that makes attacking your network a nightmare for hackers. And that’s the goal.

If your entire security relies on perimeter defense, you are making it easy for the attackers. But if you begin playing mind games with them? You’re changing the entire equation.

It’s really amusing to watch a ransomware gang pump hours of effort into fake data and let your real systems walk clear. That’s satisfying.