What is a honeypot and how is it used in network defense?

A honeypot is a decoy system deliberately configured to appear as a vulnerable target to attract attackers and study their methods. It contains no legitimate production data and any interaction with it is suspicious by definition. Honeypots serve two purposes: detection, by generating alerts when attackers interact with them, and intelligence, by capturing attacker tools, techniques, and procedures for analysis. A honeynet is a network of interconnected honeypots simulating a production environment.