Exploring the ethics of cyber deception technologies for defensive cyber deception

Cyber deception technologies are increasingly being deployed for defensive cyber deception, in protecting our computer networks from attack. Typically, these approaches have focused on conducting cyber deception for generating threat intelligence through studying attackers’ tactics, techniques and procedures, alongside the potential for covert exfiltration of digital forensics related to the attacker. Some more recent research has sought to develop concepts related to oppositional human factors, which target attacker cognition, perception and decision-making. As cyber deception technologies seek to influence human cognition and behavior, this paper proposes that there are a number of ethical issues that need to be considered in their deployment, alongside a number of potential ethical justifications for the use of such technologies in defending organization’s computer networks