HarbourFalse

HarbourFalse is a cybersecurity concept describing a class of deception technologies that present decoy digital environments and data to potential attackers. The term blends harbour, a place of refuge, with false, signaling deception. HarbourFalse deployments are used to lure intruders away from real assets, observe attacker behavior, and buy time for defenders. They can be implemented as honeypots, decoy services, fake data stores, or honey tokens integrated into a broader deception strategy.

Operational use involves creating a HarbourFalse environment that mirrors plausible assets, access controls, and data to appear legitimate. When an attacker interacts with the decoy, monitoring tools collect indicators of compromise, tools, techniques, and procedures, informing threat intelligence and incident response. Proper isolation, logging, and legal clearance are essential to prevent cross-contamination and to protect visitor privacy.

Limitations and risks include the possibility of bypass by savvy adversaries, generation of false positives, and ethical or legal concerns depending on jurisdiction. HarbourFalse requires ongoing maintenance, clear policies, and skilled personnel to manage deception ethically and effectively.

Variants can be described as active HarbourFalse (interactive engagement with intruders) and passive HarbourFalse (observation-only). In practice, HarbourFalse is closely related to honeypots, honeynets, and broader deception technologies; the terms are sometimes used interchangeably in security literature and practice.

See also: Honeypot; Honeynet; Deception technology; Threat intelligence; Cyber defense.