<s>
HoneyMonkey	B-Application
,	O
short	O
for	O
Strider	O
HoneyMonkey	B-Application
Exploit	O
Detection	O
System	O
,	O
is	O
a	O
Microsoft	O
Research	O
honeypot	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
implementation	O
uses	O
a	O
network	O
of	O
computers	O
to	O
crawl	B-Application
the	O
World	O
Wide	O
Web	O
searching	O
for	O
websites	O
that	O
use	O
browser	B-Protocol
exploits	I-Protocol
to	O
install	O
malware	O
on	O
the	O
HoneyMonkey	B-Application
computer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
HoneyMonkey	B-Application
is	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
honeypot	O
concept	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
difference	O
that	O
it	O
actively	O
seeks	O
websites	O
that	O
try	O
to	O
exploit	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
honeymonkeys	B-Application
it	O
is	O
possible	O
to	O
find	O
open	O
security	O
holes	O
that	O
are	O
not	O
yet	O
publicly	O
known	O
but	O
are	O
being	O
exploited	O
by	O
attackers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
single	O
HoneyMonkey	B-Application
is	O
an	O
automated	O
program	O
that	O
tries	O
to	O
mimic	O
the	O
action	O
of	O
a	O
user	O
surfing	O
the	O
net	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
series	O
of	O
HoneyMonkeys	B-Application
are	O
run	O
on	O
virtual	B-Architecture
machines	I-Architecture
running	O
Windows	B-Application
XP	I-Application
,	O
at	O
various	O
levels	O
of	O
patching	O
—	O
some	O
are	O
fully	O
patched	O
,	O
some	O
fully	O
vulnerable	O
,	O
and	O
others	O
in	O
between	O
these	O
two	O
extremes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
HoneyMonkey	B-Application
program	O
records	O
every	O
read	O
or	O
write	O
of	O
the	O
file	O
system	O
and	O
registry	O
,	O
thus	O
keeping	O
a	O
log	O
of	O
what	O
data	O
was	O
collected	O
by	O
the	O
web-site	O
and	O
what	O
software	O
was	O
installed	O
by	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
such	O
cases	O
,	O
the	O
log	O
of	O
actions	O
is	O
sent	O
for	O
further	O
manual	O
analysis	O
to	O
an	O
external	O
controller	O
program	O
,	O
which	O
logs	O
the	O
exploit	O
data	O
and	O
restarts	O
the	O
virtual	B-Architecture
machine	I-Architecture
to	O
allow	O
it	O
to	O
crawl	B-Application
other	O
sites	O
starting	O
in	O
a	O
known	O
uninfected	O
state	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
HoneyMonkey	B-Application
system	O
then	O
follows	O
links	O
from	O
exploit	O
sites	O
,	O
as	O
they	O
had	O
higher	O
probability	O
of	O
leading	O
to	O
other	O
exploit	O
sites	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
HoneyMonkey	B-Application
system	O
also	O
records	O
how	O
many	O
links	O
point	O
to	O
an	O
exploit	O
site	O
thereby	O
giving	O
a	O
statistical	O
indication	O
of	O
how	O
easily	O
an	O
exploit	O
site	O
is	O
reached	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
HoneyMonkey	B-Application
uses	O
a	O
black	O
box	O
system	O
to	O
detect	O
exploits	O
,	O
i.e.	O
,	O
it	O
does	O
not	O
use	O
a	O
signature	O
of	O
browser	B-Protocol
exploits	I-Protocol
to	O
detect	O
exploits	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
Monkey	O
Program	O
,	O
a	O
single	O
instance	O
of	O
the	O
HoneyMonkey	B-Application
project	O
,	O
launches	O
Internet	B-Application
Explorer	I-Application
to	O
visit	O
a	O
site	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Any	O
read	O
or	O
write	O
that	O
happens	O
out	O
of	O
Internet	B-Application
Explorer	I-Application
's	O
temporary	O
folder	O
therefore	O
must	O
have	O
used	O
browser	B-Protocol
exploits	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
monkey	O
program	O
then	O
restarts	O
the	O
virtual	B-Architecture
machine	I-Architecture
to	O
crawl	B-Application
another	O
site	O
in	O
a	O
fresh	O
state	O
.	O
</s>
