Honeypots are digital traps on the Internet. They are comparable to honey bait for bears. The Group uses them to deliberately attract attackers. Deutsche Telekom is analyzing the attacks with the aim of making its own systems and those of its customers more secure based on its experience. Telekom laid out almost 3,000 different traps on the Internet in April. Attack figures on the decoys are considered a benchmark for cyber security in the industry. They show how active hackers are on the Internet.

According to Telekom, 51% of the attacks were aimed at network security. Hackers focused on interfaces for the remote maintenance of computers. In 26% of cases, the attacker wanted to gain control of a third-party computer. Around 7% of the attacks targeted passwords. 5% of the attacks targeted websites. Telekom Security observes three to eight unknown attack tactics every day. The Group learns defenses for itself and its customers from the average of 250 new hacker tricks every month.

Attacks on fixed and mobile networks are also becoming more severe. In April, botnets fired 5.3 trillion data packets at Deutsche Telekom. In the previous year, the figure was 330 billion. Botnets consist of a large number of hijacked computers or smartphones. Controlled by others, they send data packets to a target. If the target cannot cope with the onslaught of data, it collapses. Deutsche Telekom has installed sensors at the transitions from its network to the Internet. They discovered that botnets use Internet surfers from companies. They attack where companies inevitably keep data paths open. There are no firewalls to protect them. The hijacked zombie computers lurk where the Internet browser gets its data packets from the network.

According to Dirk Backofen, Head of Telekom Security, "We will see fifty billion devices on the Internet next year. Everyone and everything is networked and needs cyber security. Nobody can do this alone. We need an army of good guys. That is why we are sharing our knowledge to immunize society against cyber attacks. Only by joining forces between politics, science and the private sector will we be able to successfully put hackers in their place."