US Patent 11483318 Providing network security through autonomous simulated environments

A method to secure a production environment in a network begins by associating a set of resources into a simulated environment layer configured to simulate at least a portion of the production environment. A preferred approach to building the simulated environment layer utilizes generative adversarial network (GAN) machine learning modeling. Upon detecting a suspect user attempting to interact with the production environment, one or more requests received from the suspect user are routed to the simulated environment layer as opposed to the production environment. At least one behavior of the simulated environment layer is then modified as the suspect user interacts within the simulated environment layer. The modified behavior facilitates that an attack initiated by the suspect user can proceed. Information (such as the user's tactics, techniques and procedures (TPPs), or other Indicators of Compromise (IoCs) associated with the attack is captured for analysis and subsequent action.