While swimming into a digital age can be a positive thing for all individuals and industries, it does, however, pose some risks in security. With information readily available online, it’s only suitable that you take the proper steps to secure sensitive data from attacks, such as Zero-Day Attack.
Unfortunately, not many are aware of the different cybercrimes that you may face. Because of this, it pays to do some research and learn more about this issue so you can take the proper steps to prevent these from happening.
To help manage risks and attacks, businesses work with online protection companies to implement the right strategies and solutions to help avoid such dangerous issues. Without taking the proper steps, your business isn’t the only thing that will be affected; your clients and stakeholders will, too.
What is a Zero-Day Attack?
“Zero-day” describes recently discovered security vulnerabilities that hackers use to attack your system. The reason it’s called “zero-day” is because the vendor or developer has only learned about this flaw, meaning they have “zero days” to rectify the situation. Because with this issue, the hacker has already exploited the flaw even before a developer has time to fix it.
However, it’s important to note that zero-day attacks come in a variety of forms, including:
- Zero-Day Vulnerability: This refers to the software vulnerability discovered by attackers before the developers are aware of the issue. Because the developers are unaware of the issue, no patch exists for this, making the attacks succeed.
- Zero-Day Exploits: This method is used by hackers to attack a system with an unidentified vulnerability.
- Zero-Day Attack: This refers to the use of zero-day exploits to damage or steal data from a system that’s impacted by a vulnerability.
How Do Zero-Day Attacks Work?
Unfortunately, some software has security vulnerabilities that hackers can use to cause damage to a business’s system. This is why it’s crucial for software developers to look for vulnerabilities and “patch” them immediately before their release.
But in some cases, hackers or cyber thieves spot these vulnerabilities before a software developer does, and while the vulnerability is out in the open, they attack the software and implement a new code to exploit and take advantage of it.
This code that they use—the exploit code—will victimize software users and could cause major issues in the system. This often happens through email, and it enters the system when the user clicks the documents or links found in the email.
Sadly, zero-attacks are dangerous because users and developers don’t know about them, and only the attackers themselves know that they are hacking into the system. When this happens, your sensitive data are in vulnerable positions, and it may be too late for you when you find out about the attack.
For this reason, it’s always a good idea to work with an online protection company to help prevent issues like this from happening. Working with the right developers and IT experts can help protect your system to ensure these attacks can be managed and prevented.
The Bottom Line: Protect Your Company’s System and Data with Online Protection
With the growth of the digital age, there’s no doubt that cybercrime will only continue to rise. And to prevent issues like zero-day attacks, it’s only right that you work with an online protection company to help secure your system from these issues and attacks.
FraudWatch is a leading digital brand protection company and has protected various clients all over the world since 2003. Our team of experts specialise in phishing, malware, mobile app impersonation, social media, and more.