Zero Day Exploits

After reading my blogs here, most of my friends ask me about zero day. So here it goes for all.....

• A zero day exploit is when the exploit for the vulnerability is created before, or on the same day as the vulnerability is learned about by the vendor.
• A zero-day exploit is when someone takes advantage of a security vulnerability on the same day that the vulnerability becomes generally known.

Once a person identifies that an application or program contains a potential security vulnerability, that person can notify the publisher of the application or program so that action can be taken to repair or patch the vulnerability or defend against its exploitation. The worst part of a zero day exploit is that some companies may not react fast enough to fix or patch the vulnerability. This will leave many users exposed and many might already be infected. The good news is that sometimes the hackers can’t expose or distribute the exploit faster than the fix. Hopefully this happens more often and suppresses any wrong doing from the hackers.

Hackers are getting smarter and are able to expose vulnerabilities much faster. In some cases, a hacker may be the first to discover the vulnerability. In these situations, the vulnerability and the exploit may become apparent on the same day. There is no way to guard against the exploit before it happens.

The best thing you can do to protect against zero-day exploits is to follow good security policies in the first place. By installing and keeping your anti-virus software up to date nd keeping your system patched against the vulnerabilities you are already aware of.