One of the most difficult components of risk management is dealing with zero-day attacks. Risk management necessitates an understanding of the possible threats and the strength of the enterprise attack surface. Zero-day attacks, however, exploit unknown vulnerabilities. As a result, businesses must design their systems, networks, and management practises to prevent, detect, and respond to these types of attacks.
With the rapid advancement of internet and cloud technologies, cyber threats and vulnerabilities are also evolving. One of the most serious cybersecurity threats that enterprises face is zero-day exploits. Zero-days are previously unknown and undiscovered security vulnerabilities across devices that, if not found and remedied, can cause tremendous damage.
Moreover, if discovered, zero-day vulnerabilities can take several days or weeks to fix, putting individuals who use the affected software at risk. Users must also have a good patch management program in place to apply the update once the fix is ready.
According to a 2020 report from Ponemon Institute “The Third Annual Study on the State of Endpoint Security Risk”, 80 percent of successful data breaches were caused by zero-day exploits, and unfortunately, most businesses are still ill-equipped to significantly improve this number.
Zero-day threats and attacks can be difficult to find and stop. There are cybersecurity measures that organizations can adopt to stop security threats before they happen, with prevention being the best strategy.
Threat Intelligence Platforms
Automated scripts and exploit codes are used in the majority of sophisticated, modern cyber-attacks. A threat actor can target multiple companies with a zero-day attack against a web browser, or an operating system. Attackers take advantage of the short time between vulnerability discovery and patch deployment to steal critical company data and user passwords.
Also Read: Are Enterprises Ready for Modern Cyber Threats?
As a result, threat intelligence is critical, especially when it comes to defending against automated large-scale zero-day attacks. A manual approach to threat intelligence can make zero-day patching slow and challenging, and may not be the best option. Instead, organizations can leverage automated threat intelligence tools.
Educating Employees and User Groups
Users are manipulated or tricked into disclosing sensitive or confidential information in zero-day attacks. To execute the zero-day exploit, the hackers can further compromise networks and systems. As a result, it is critical that businesses educate their employees on necessary security practices in order to protect their systems against zero-day attacks.
Machine learning-based detection and behavioral detection that can detect attacks based on trends rather than traditional signatures are becoming increasingly important for security teams. Many EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response) tools include behavioural detection, which may be the best way to prevent zero-day attacks.
Advanced Anti-Malware Security Solutions
Legacy anti-malware/anti-virus solutions and email security are more effective in defending against known threats. When it comes to guarding against unknown signatures and zero-day attacks, however, they fall short. When securing a company against zero-day attacks is a race against time, the need for more proactive solutions becomes even more critical. As a result, companies can be more intuitive in spotting possible zero-day attacks by utilizing solutions powered by AI, ML, and automation. They can perform malware DNA analysis, illicit attack pattern detection and anomaly detection with ease.
For more such updates follow us on Google News ITsecuritywire News. Please subscribe to our Newsletter for more updates.
