In this episode of PING, we’re joined by Leslie Daigle from the Global Cyber Alliance (GCA) to talk about their evolving honeynet project. Leslie first appeared on PING in January 2024, and this episode revisits the progress since then.
Honeynets, also known as honey farms, are deliberately exposed, weakly protected systems placed online to attract malicious traffic. They help researchers understand what kinds of attacks are happening, where they originate, and how they work.
Since her last appearance, the GCA has expanded its honeynet infrastructure. It has developed its own system images and is now able to detect a wider range of malicious traffic. GCA has also assumed a global support role for the Mutually Agreed Norms for Routing Security (MANRS) initiative.
Interestingly, in this conversation, Leslie is asking more questions than offering answers. If large-scale malicious traffic is now a persistent problem, what kinds of strategies should we pursue to address it? While the focus has traditionally been on technical solutions, Leslie suggests the conversation must now broaden to include public policy and governance communities. What social costs are acceptable? What broader societal objectives should shape our response? These are difficult questions and often outside the comfort zone of technologists.
To help bridge that gap, GCA has launched the Automated Internet Defence Ecosystem (AIDE) platform. AIDE is a simple modelling tool that presents a regional and economic snapshot of malicious traffic detected through honeynets. Its goal is to open up dialogue between national policymakers, ISPs, and the broader routing community — each of whom has a role to play in improving global Internet hygiene.
Read more about GCA, Honeynets, and AIDE on the APNIC Blog and the web:
- The invisible war: Why securing Internet traffic is everyone’s responsibility (Leslie Daigle, APNIC Blog, May 2025)
- Global Cyber Alliance measurements (PING Podcast, January 2024)
- Dealing with the undercurrent of unwanted traffic (Leslie Daigle, APNIC Blog, October 2022)
- AIDE: Addressing unwanted Internet traffic at its source (GCA website)
Subscribe and share your story
You can stream and subscribe to PING via the following channels:
If you’re interested in sharing your insights or research, please get in touch — we’re always looking for great stories from the community. Please let us know what you think of the podcast and the APNIC Blog so we can keep improving.
The views expressed by the authors of this blog are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of APNIC. Please note a Code of Conduct applies to this blog.