Tarpitting

Tarpitting is a network security technique in which a server deliberately delays responding to a client's requests in order to make it more difficult for an attacker to exploit a vulnerability. By making the attacker's job more difficult, tarpitting can help to prevent attacks or at least make them more time-consuming and expensive.

Tarpitting can be used to protect against a wide range of attacks, including brute force attacks, denial of service attacks, and scanning for vulnerable services. It can be used on its own or in conjunction with other security measures such as rate limiting and intrusion detection/prevention systems.

How Tarpitting Works

When a client connects to a server, the server can choose to delay its response in order to make it more difficult for the client to receive the information it is requesting. The delay can be a fixed amount of time or it can vary depending on the specific request.

For example, if an attacker is trying to brute force a login by sending a large number of login attempts, the server can delay its response to each attempt. This will make the attacker's job much more difficult, as they will have to wait a long time for each response.

Similarly, if an attacker is trying to perform a denial of service attack by flooding the server with requests, the server can delay its response to each request. This will make the attacker's job much more difficult, as they will have to wait a long time for each

What is tarpit in cyber security?

A tarpit is a network security measure used to defend against denial-of-service (DoS) attacks and other network attacks. It works by slowing down or delaying incoming connections in order to make it more difficult for attackers to bombard a system with requests. Tarpitting can also be used to waste the resources of an attacker, making it more difficult and costly for them to mount an attack.

Tarpitting is often used as part of a defense-in-depth strategy, in which multiple layers of security are employed to make it more difficult for an attacker to succeed. Tarpitting can be used on its own, but it is usually used in combination with other security measures such as firewalls, intrusion detection/prevention systems, and rate limiting.

What is Exchange Tarpitting?

Exchange Tarpitting is a security feature that can be used to help protect against denial of service (DoS) attacks. When enabled, tarpitting delays the delivery of email messages from an external sender if the sender's mail server does not support the STARTTLS extension. This delay can help to prevent a DoS attack by giving the mail server time to process the incoming messages and respond appropriately.

How do you employ Tarpitting?

Tarpitting is a security measure employed in order to slow down or thwart attacks on a computer network. By deliberately introducing delays into the connection process, it makes it more difficult and time-consuming for an attacker to gain access to the system. This can discourage attackers and deter them from attempting to access the system altogether.

There are a number of different ways to implement tarpitting, but one common method is to use a honeypot. A honeypot is a decoy system that is set up to attract and trap attackers. When an attacker attempts to connect to the honeypot, they are actually connecting to a system that is under the control of the security team. This allows the security team to monitor and track the attacker, and to introduce delays and other obstacles that make it more difficult for the attacker to gain access to the system.

Another common way to implement tarpitting is to use rate-limiting. This involves limiting the number of connections that can be made to the system in a given period of time. This can be effective in slowing down attacks, but it can also cause legitimate users to experience delays when trying to access the system.

Tarpitting is a useful security measure that can help to slow down or deter attacks on a computer network. By deliberately introducing delays into the connection process, it makes it more difficult and time-consuming for an attacker to gain access to the system. This can discourage attackers and deter them from attempting to access