What is a common use case for a honeypot in network security?

A honeypot serves as a decoy for attackers, designed to be an attractive target that draws in malicious activity. The primary use case for deploying a honeypot is to monitor and analyze this malicious activity in a controlled environment. By observing how attackers interact with the honeypot, security professionals can gain valuable insights into attack patterns, techniques, and tools used by adversaries. This information can then be leveraged to enhance overall network security, improve threat detection mechanisms, and inform incident response protocols.

In contrast, increasing bandwidth for legitimate users is not a function of a honeypot. Similarly, storing sensitive user data is not appropriate for a honeypot, as it is designed to lure attackers rather than protect valuable information. A honeypot also does not serve as a primary firewall; instead, it complements existing security measures by providing an additional layer of intelligence-gathering and threat assessment.