Tarpit (networking)

Imagine you are playing tag with your friends, but there is one friend who likes to tag you and then hold on to you for a really long time, making it difficult for you to move or tag anyone else. That friend is acting like a tarpit in networking.

In computer terms, a tarpit is a type of network system that slows down or traps malicious traffic. This helps protect a computer system from attacks by slowing down the attacker's computer or forcing it to use more resources to continue the attack. It's like throwing sand in the gears of a bad guy's machine.

Tarpits work by deliberately slowing down the interactions between two computers. When a request is sent from one computer to another, the tarpit system slows down the response time, which can cause the attacking computer to believe that it has found a vulnerable target. This can encourage the attacking computer to continue trying to attack the system, resulting in more time and resources spent on the attack, making it easier for the computer being attacked to detect and prevent the attack.

Overall, tarpits are like a protective barrier that makes it harder for bad guys to attack your computer system, giving you more time to respond and block any malicious activity.