MSPNetworks Blog

While security researchers do their best to find security vulnerabilities in software and systems before they are actively exploited by attackers, they can’t be successful all the time. There are too many threats and too many variables to consider, and zero-day exploits are often discovered well after they are actively being exploited by threats. How can you keep zero-day exploits from impacting your business?

What Exactly Is a Zero-Day Exploit?

To put it simply, zero-day exploits are flaws in systems that are discovered only after they have been targeted by a threat. The severity of the attacks can vary wildly, ranging from discrete and covert hacks that go undetected for some time, to in-your-face hacks that don’t care about being discovered by the user. In the case of the former, zero-day exploits can go undocumented for so long that it becomes an even greater threat and logistical nightmare for security researchers and developers.

Why Are They So Dangerous?

The main reason why zero-day exploits are so devastating is that they are undocumented and therefore hard to predict or take action to prevent. This unknown factor means that people often don’t know they exist until the flaw is being leveraged by hackers, making it even more crucial that developers act with haste to patch the flaw.

The problem here is that issuing patches to these types of issues takes time—time which is of the essence. As long as the threat is actively being exploited, users remain at risk until the patch has been issued, and after the lid has been blown off the vulnerability, you can bet that hackers will do all they can to take advantage of the exploit before it is fixed.

What Can You Do About Them?

Zero-day flaws are inherently dangerous because security researchers and professionals have precious little time to address them. That said, you do have some options available to you to protect your infrastructure as best you can, at least until the patch has been issued.

First, you want to consider a comprehensive security solution designed specifically for enterprise-grade security. MSPNetworks can help you implement such a system to mitigate most security threats. At the same time, you’ll want to ensure your team has the training they need to identify potential threats and the reporting structure for how they can let IT know if something is amiss. We also recommend that you actively monitor your systems to detect abnormalities before they cause irreparable damage. All in all, you want a proactive strategy rather than a reactive strategy for your IT.

MSPNetworks can help you put this plan into practice. To learn more about what we can do for your organization, call us today at (516) 403-9001.

You might hear the term “zero-day” when discussing security threats, but do you know what they actually are? A zero-day threat is arguably one of the most devastating and dangerous security issues your business could face, and if you’re not prepared, they could be the end of it.

Before anything else, it’s critical that you understand what makes the concept of a zero-day threat so terrifying. Vulnerabilities are flaws in software that can be used by hackers and cybercriminals to access important information or cause trouble. To do so, malware is used by the hacker, but they generally need an exploitable vulnerability to do so.

Defining Zero-Day Threats
Depending on how long a vulnerability is known by developers, they might have a timeline to resolve the issue by, provided that the attack isn’t currently being used by hackers to cause trouble for businesses. However, a vulnerability that is being used in the wild without a patch or update to resolve the issue means that developers effectively have zero days to respond to the issue without the threat of it being used by hackers.

Zero-day threats are often found by black-hat hackers rather than white-hat cybersecurity researchers who generally report threats to developers, so they can be patched properly. Under the most ideal circumstances, an update can be issued before criminals start to use the vulnerability to their advantage. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always happen, and hackers might be able to use these vulnerabilities.

Protecting Against These Threats
It might seem impossible to keep your business secure from zero-day threats, and to an extent, you’re right. The easiest and best way to keep your organization as secure as possible is to take proactive measures. This includes updating your business’ technology solutions as frequently as possible whenever a new patch or update is available. This ensures that you are as protected as possible when the moment does come.

One of the most interesting and notable trends regarding zero-day threats is how they are still successful after they have been turned into an n-day vulnerability. An n-day vulnerability is one that has been discovered and fixed, but if they aren’t resolved in time, a business can still be affected by them before long. The Equifax breach is a perfect example of this, as it was a vulnerability that had been discovered, reported, and patched earlier that year, yet Equifax failed to apply the patch on time.

All businesses need to consider zero-day threats a major problem, and if you don’t take proactive action against them now, you could be putting your business at risk. To learn more about how you can protect your business now, reach out to us at (516) 403-9001.