LLM Honeypot: Leveraging Large Language Models as Advanced Interactive Honeypot Systems
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Abstract (arXiv)
The rapid evolution of cyber threats necessitates innovative solutions for detecting and analyzing malicious activity. Honeypots, which are decoy systems designed to lure and interact with attackers, have emerged as a critical component in cybersecurity. In this paper, we present a novel approach to creating realistic and interactive honeypot systems using Large Language Models (LLMs). By fine-tuning a pre-trained open-source language model on a diverse dataset of attacker-generated commands and responses, we developed a honeypot capable of sophisticated engagement with attackers. Our methodology involved several key steps: data collection and processing, prompt engineering, model selection, and supervised fine-tuning to optimize the model's performance. Evaluation through similarity metrics and live deployment demonstrated that our approach effectively generates accurate and informative responses. The results highlight the potential of LLMs to revolutionize honeypot technology, providing cybersecurity professionals with a powerful tool to detect and analyze malicious activity, thereby enhancing overall security infrastructure.
Key facts. Cited by 10 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026). Builds on 11 of its 25 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 12 Sep 2024.
Builds on
11 of 25 references.
References · 11
- 2021LoRA: Low-Rank Adaptation of Large Language Modelscited by 14,380
- 2023Llama 2: Open Foundation and Fine-Tuned Chat Modelscited by 13,028
- 2023FlashAttention-2: Faster Attention with Better Parallelism and Work Partitioningcited by 2,598
- 2024Phi-3 Technical Report: A Highly Capable Language Model Locally on Your Phonecited by 1,917
- 2024LlamaFactory: Unified Efficient Fine-Tuning of 100+ Language Modelscited by 1,464
- 2023Harnessing the Power of LLMs in Practice: A Survey on ChatGPT and Beyondcited by 411
- 2023NEFTune: Noisy Embeddings Improve Instruction Finetuningcited by 100
- 2023LLM in the Shell: Generative Honeypotscited by 19
- 2023Chatbots in a Honeypot Worldcited by 9
- 2018U-PoT: A Honeypot Framework for UPnP-Based IoT Devicescited by 4
- 2019Attacker Behaviour Profiling using Stochastic Ensemble of Hidden Markov Modelscited by 2
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Citing papers per year: 2024: 1; 2025: 4; 2026: 5.
10 papers.
- 2024A Survey on Large Language Models for Communication, Network, and Service Management: Application Insights, Challenges, and Future Directionscited by 25
- 2025VelLMes: A high-interaction AI-based deception frameworkcited by 3
- 2026Let Them Steal: Trapping Large Language Model Extraction Attacks with Knowledge Honeypotcited by 3
- 2025Towards Production-Worthy Simulation for Autonomous Cyber Operationscited by 2
- 2026Honeyval: A Comprehensive Evaluation Framework for LLM-powered HTTP Honeypotscited by 1
- 2026AdvancedShelLM: A Stateful Multi-Agent LLM Honeypot for SSH Deceptioncited by 1
- 2025ShIOEnv: A Command Evaluation Environment for Grammar-Constrained Synthesis and Execution Behavior Modelingcited by 0
- 2025Design and Development of an Intelligent LLM-based LDAP Honeypotcited by 0
- 2026Towards Agentic Honeynet Configurationcited by 0
- 2026Honeypot Protocolcited by 0
- 2026AdvancedShelLM: A Stateful Multi-Agent LLM Honeypot for SSH Deception26 Jun 2026
- 2026Let Them Steal: Trapping Large Language Model Extraction Attacks with Knowledge Honeypot14 Jun 2026
- 2026Honeyval: A Comprehensive Evaluation Framework for LLM-powered HTTP Honeypots28 May 2026
- 2026Honeypot Protocol14 Apr 2026
- 2026Towards Agentic Honeynet Configuration14 Mar 2026
- 2025VelLMes: A high-interaction AI-based deception framework8 Oct 2025
- 2025Design and Development of an Intelligent LLM-based LDAP Honeypot20 Sep 2025
- 2025Towards Production-Worthy Simulation for Autonomous Cyber Operations23 Aug 2025
- 2025ShIOEnv: A Command Evaluation Environment for Grammar-Constrained Synthesis and Execution Behavior Modeling23 May 2025
- 2024A Survey on Large Language Models for Communication, Network, and Service Management: Application Insights, Challenges, and Future Directions16 Dec 2024