Zero day exploit
What actually Cyber Attack means?⌗
A cyber attack is any attempt to gain unauthorized access to a computer, computing system or computer network with the intent to cause damage. Cyber attacks aim to disable, disrupt, destroy or control computer systems or to alter, block, delete, manipulate or steal the data held within these systems.
A cyber attack can be launched from anywhere by any individual or group using one or more various attack strategies.
People who carry out cyber attacks are generally regarded as cybercriminals. Often referred to as bad actors, threat actors and hackers, they include individuals who act alone, drawing on their computer skills to design and execute malicious attacks. They can also belong to a criminal syndicate, working with other threat actors to find weaknesses or problems in the computer systems – called vulnerabilities – that can be exploited for criminal gain.
Government-sponsored groups of computer experts also launch cyber attacks. They’re identified as nation-state attackers, and they have been accused of attacking the information technology (IT) infrastructure of other governments, as well as nongovernment entities, such as businesses, non-profits and utilities.
What is a Zero-Day Exploit?⌗
A “zero-day” or “0Day” in the cybersecurity biz is a vulnerability in an internet- connected device, network component or piece of software that was essentially just discovered or exposed. The whole idea is that this vulnerability has zero-days of history.
So what does this mean? Why is it important?⌗
Zero-day vulnerabilities are the hardest kind of vulnerability to protect against because no security company and very few, if any, anti-virus software packages are prepared to handle them or the malware that attempts to exploit them. There are no patches available to solve the issue and no other mitigation strategies because everyone just found out about the darn thing! Unfortunately, it is often easier and faster for cybercriminals to take advantage of these vulnerabilities than it is for the good guys to shore up defences and prevent the vulnerability from being exploited.
How Do You Detect a Zero-Day Attack?⌗
- Statistics-based detection employs machine learning to collect data from previously detected exploits and create a baseline for safe system behaviour. While this method has limited effectiveness and is subject to false positives/negatives, it can work well in a hybrid solution.
- Signature-based detection uses existing databases of malware and their behaviour as a reference when scanning for threats. After using machine learning to analyse and create signatures for existing malware, it is possible to use the signatures to detect previously unknown vulnerabilities or attacks.
- Behaviour-based detection detects malware based on its interactions with the target system. Rather than looking at incoming files’ code, the solution analyzes the its interactions with existing software to predict if it’s the result of malicious attack.
- Hybrid detection combines the above three techniques to take advantage of their strengths while mitigating their weaknesses.
How to Ensure Zero-day-Attack Prevention?⌗
- Install a robust antivirus/anti malware software (preferably an AI-ML based solution) that can protect against both known and unknown threats.
- Ensure to update the Operating systems, software and applications whenever the developer releases the updates. Delaying the updates can cause your systems to become vulnerable to zero-day attacks.
- Ensure that your employees, clients, and vendors practice adopt reasonable online security practices.
- Ensure security settings are configured appropriately for the OS, security software/solutions, and the internet browser for zero-day protection.