# Creating Honeypots to Prevent Online Child Exploitation
## 2 Background  
Cyber security infrastructure has evolved rapidly across the last four decades since its inception in the 1980s. Honeypots fill a role within this infrastructure to enable bad actors to be discovered and monitored [11]. As a preventative tool, they are quite distinct from the other forms of defence that are commonly used within the industry.  
When defining cyber security infrastructure, we are typically describing firewalls, detection systems, and cryptographic tools, in addition to other protective measures in our operating systems. These systems are about controlling access to our networks and systems, allowing access to those with permission, and denying access from those who do not.  
One of the first tools developed to do this, and the clearest example of denying access, is the firewall. First described and implemented in the 1980s [6], fundamentally, firewalls act as a barrier between our network and others, or even between different sections of our own network. They prevent access and obfuscate the structure of our network and the number of devices they contain, serving to not only keep bad actors out, but to also limit the knowledge they have of our systems. They are a proactive defensive measure, which prevents attacks from occurring.  
A second commonly used network security tool which was first proposed in the 1980s is an Intrusion Detection System [7]. Intrusion detection can take multiple forms, from being installed on a host of interest, or directly upon the network to observe traffic as it travels past the sensor. Like a firewall, intrusion detection systems are an active defensive measure. They can alert the administrator to events that are occurring or respond to the event in real-time itself by denying access to traffic. Antivirus systems operate on a similar premise. These detection and response systems work to thwart an attack in progress, to prevent it from continuing and from causing greater harm. The use of such systems plays a key role in prevention, as they increase the likelihood of discovery, and play an active role in stopping attacks when they are in progress.  
Further, cryptography can play a key preventative role in our defences. It is vital in protecting the confidentiality of data; proving the identity of users we are interacting with, or are interacting with our systems; and integrity, by enabling us to monitor unauthorised change. It serves to increase the difficulty of an attack, in multiple contexts, but to also enable users to detect when an attack has occurred.  
Other techniques that are commonly discussed and applied relate to our operating systems, including ensuring that software is up to date and that security holes are fixed. The aim here is to not only prevent the possibility of attacks occurring, but also to decrease the attractiveness of the target and increase the difficulty of an attack to, ultimately, reduce the likelihood that it will succeed.  
Each of the forms of defence described above aim to harden the system or network, making it more difficult for a bad actor to attack. Honeypots are quite different in their operational philosophy. The next section describes the role that honeypots have, and how they are complementary to these other forms of defences, leading to their application by the authors of this paper to prevent digital crime, namely viewing of CEM online.