In network security, what is a honey pot, and why is it used?

Honey pots are the carefully crafted environments that look like a vulnerable server. Hacker will be attracted to the honey pots and and think they are able penetrate and  steal valuable information. In reality, the vulnerable server offers manipulated information and clandestinely monitors the techniques used and source of the hackers.

honey pot is the technology which attracts the hacker and implemented by the company information security team to check the hacker activity when they wants to penetrate in your network infrastructure.

Honeypot  looks like a compromised server and gives hacker a real atmosphere to penetrate and take advantage, but in reality these activity is closely monitored by the security team and help them to understand the flaws and develop the security policy.

group of honeypots is known as Honey nets.

Honey Pot Systems are decoy servers or systems setup to gather information regarding an attacker or intruder into your system. They are not meant to prevent attacks, but gather information for research and development. They are also used to gather forensic information to provide evidence for prosecution of intruders.

A honeypot is a computer security mechanism set to detect, deflect or in some manner counteract attempts at unauthorized use of information systems.

A honeypot is a computer system that is set up to act as a decoy to lure cyberattackers, and to detect, deflect or study attempts to gain unauthorized access to information systems. Generally, it consists of a computer, applications, and data that simulate the behavior of a real system that appears to be part of a network but is actually isolated and closely monitored. All communications with a honeypot are considered hostile, as there's no reason for legitimate users to access a honeypot. Honeypots do help in understanding the threats network systems face, but production honeypots should not be seen as a replacement for a standard IDS. If not configured correctly they can be used to access the real production system or be used as a launch pad for attacks against other systems