Which of the following describes a honeypot's purpose?

• A. To attract attackers and study their methods by appearing as a vulnerable system
• B. To log bandwidth usage
• C. To encrypt network traffic
• D. To replace a firewall

Answer: (D)

A honeypot is a decoy system placed in a network to attract attackers and study their techniques. By appearing as a vulnerable or valuable target, it lures intruders away from real assets and provides a controlled environment where their actions can be observed, recorded, and analyzed. This intelligence reveals attack vectors, tools, payloads, and attacker behavior, which security teams use to improve detection rules, signatures, and incident response procedures. It’s typically isolated from production to prevent risk to real systems, and its purpose isn’t just logging bandwidth, encrypting traffic, or replacing a firewall—the honeypot complements defenses by providing actionable insight into threats.