Zero-Day Attack, Vulnerability and Exploit Explained

A zero-day vulnerability is an unknown security vulnerability or software flaw that a threat actor can target with malicious code.

The term “Zero-Day” is used because the software vendor was unaware of their software vulnerability, and they’ve had “0” days to work on a security patch or an update to fix the issue.

Generally, when a zero-day vulnerability is discovered it gets added to the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) list. CVE is a dictionary that provides definitions for publicly disclosed cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

The goal of CVE is to make it easier to share data across separate vulnerability capabilities (tools, databases, and services) with these definitions. CVE Records are comprised of an identification number, a description, and at least one public reference.

What is a Zero-Day Exploit?

A zero-day exploit is the technique or tactic a malicious actor uses to leverage the vulnerability to attack a system.

A zero-day attack occurs when a hacker releases malware to exploit the software vulnerability before the software developer has patched the flaw. Zero-day attacks are extremely dangerous for companies because they’re unknown and can be very difficult to detect, making them a serious security risk. It’s like a thief sneaking in through a backdoor that was accidentally left unlocked.

Stuxnet

One of the most well-known zero-day attacks is Stuxnet, the worm believed to be responsible for causing considerable damage to Iran’s nuclear program. This worm exploited four different zero-day vulnerabilities in the Microsoft Windows operating system.

Vulnerability Timeline

• A software manufacturer creates software and makes it public
• A threat actor/s discovers the vulnerability
• The threat actor/s creates code to exploit the vulnerability
• The threat actor/s implements the code to exploit the vulnerability or sells it
• Good guys spot the vulnerability and alert the software manufacturer – it is now a zero-day exploit
• The software manufacturer develops a fix and releases patches – it is no more called as a zero-day exploit

Protect Against Zero-day Attacks

How to protect yourself from zero-day vulnerabilities?

Zero-day vulnerabilities pose a serious threat to the cyber world. It has the capability to leave the user susceptible to attacks which can cause serious security data breaches.

It is critical to stay proactive and work on solutions that provides instant reactive security measures.

Implement the use of a comprehensive and sophisticated security software like Comodo antivirus that features to can provide protection both the known and the unknown threats

If you come across any new software updates by the vendor, it is important to stay prompt and instantly install the latest update as and when the vendor releases it. This works well to mitigate the possible risks due to malware infection.

Updating the software with the latest patch would help add new features, delete outdated features which are obsolete and ensure fixing security gaps.

Following are the tips to stay protected from zero-day threats

• Ensure that all the software is in use and are updated with the latest security patches as it can protect your system from a lot of threats
• Implement secure online hygiene.
• Ensure to configure security settings for your browser, operating system and even the security software that you use.
• Install an effective and proactive security software like Comodo Antivirus Software which provides effective and reactive features and methods to help terminate both known and unknown threats.
• SpyBot Search & Destroy | Spybot-S&D  (Safer-Networking Limited) The free addition works but does not offer proactive Antivirus solutions however purchasing the full version license agreement which is only $25.00 a year highly affordable and works great along side Comodo Antivirus Premium suite with no conflicts and does not use huge amount of system resources that will slow your system down to a crawl.

Explaining Zero-Day Exploits

Contact me if you need assistance I offer a highly affordable defense scheme that works in preventing and defending your system from these and many other vulnerabilities, exploits and infections.