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Zero-day Attacks

A zero-day attack is an attack that exploits a potentially serious software security weakness that the vendor or developer may be unaware of.

The software developer must rush to resolve the weakness as soon as it is discovered in order to limit the threat to software users. The solution is called a software patch

A zero-day exploit is the method an attacker uses to access the vulnerable system. These are severe security threats with high success rates as businesses do not have defenses in place to detect or prevent them.

A zero-day attack is so-called because it occurs before the target is aware that the vulnerability exists. The attacker releases malware before the developer or vendor has had the opportunity to create a patch to fix the vulnerability

Zero-day vulnerabilities can cause not only immediate headaches for devs and vendors, but also long-term impacts on the health of a business, consumer trust and even national security.

The evolution and growing use of technologies such as artificial intelligence may mean that zero-day vulnerabilities will soon become increasingly common

Some consequences of Zero-day attacks are

• They can grant backdoor access to systems, leading to data theft, disruption of operations, or ransomware attacks.
• They can cause financial losses, reputational damage, and legal liabilities for the affected businesses
• They can erode customer trust and confidence in the security and reliability of the systems and services they use
• They can pose national security risks, as state-sponsored hackers can use them to spy on, sabotage, or influence other countries or organizations.

Here are some statistics on Zero-day attacks are

• At least 66 zero-days have been found in use 2023, according to databases such as the 0-day tracking project —almost double the total for 2020, and more than in any other year on record.
• China alone is suspected to be responsible for nine zero-days this year, while the US and its allies clearly possess some of the most sophisticated hacking capabilities.
• The exploit industry, which sells zero-days to governments and cybercriminals, is growing and becoming more accessible, lowering the barriers to entry for launching zero-day attacks.
• According to an analysis by Google-owned threat intelligence and incident response firm Mandiant, attackers exploited 55 zero-day flaws last year, fewer than the 81 observed in 2021 but triple the number from 2019.
• The average time between the introduction and discovery of a zero-day vulnerability is 6.9 years, according to a study by Leyla Bilge and Tudor Dumitras from Symantec Research Labs.

What can you do

• Use antivirus software that can detect and block malware in real time. Some antivirus suites like Norton 360 also include web shields, firewalls, and VPNs that can enhance your security
• Keep your software up to date and install patches as soon as they are available. This can reduce the window of opportunity for attackers to exploit known vulnerabilities
• Use a firewall, antivirus software, and a VPN to filter unwanted traffic, remove viruses and malware, and disguise your IP address when using the internet
• Use a zero-day protection solution that leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning to identify and prevent zero-day attacks. For example, Check Point’s ThreatCloud AI uses data from over 86 billion daily transactions to provide threat intelligence and prevention engines. Another example is Cynet’s Next-Generation Antivirus (NGAV) that can detect and block zero-day exploits using behavioral analysis
• Have an incident response plan in place that can help you contain, analyze, and recover from a zero-day attack. This can minimize the damage and impact of the attack on your business or organization

Incident Response Plan