What is a Zero-Day Attack? Its Examples, Prevention & Detection

In general, "zero-day" refers to recently identified security flaws that can be exploited by hackers to attack systems. Since the vendor or developer has only recently become aware of the problem, they have "zero days" to repair it. This situation is referred described as a "zero-day" flaw. When hackers take advantage of the vulnerability before developers have a chance to fix it, it is known as a zero-day assault.

What Are Zero-Day Attacks And How Do Zero-Day Attacks Work?

Software applications frequently have flaws. These are inadvertent defects or security gaps in software systems that might theoretically be exploited. For instance, there might be a weakness that enables a cybercriminal to access data that would otherwise be secure.

These vulnerabilities are frequently sought for by software developers. When a vulnerability is found, researchers investigate it, develop a "patch" to address it, and then publish the patch in a fresh version of the software.

However, this is a lengthy procedure. The term "zero day vulnerability" refers to a weakness that can be exploited immediately once it is discovered by hackers worldwide. As a result, developers have no time to address the issue.

The engineers work to repair a vulnerability as soon as it is made public to halt an attack. Security flaws, however, are frequently not found right immediately. Sometimes it takes days, weeks, or even months for developers to find the flaw that allowed the assault to happen. Even after a zero-day fix has been provided, not all users immediately apply it. Hackers are now quicker at taking advantage of vulnerabilities as soon as they are found in recent years.

On the dark web, exploits can be purchased for expensive prices. An exploit is no longer referred to as a zero-day threat once it has been found and patched.

Because only the attackers themselves are aware of zero-day assaults, they are particularly risky. Criminals can attack right away after breaking into a network, or they can wait until it is most beneficial to do so.

Targets Of Zero-Day Attack

A zero-day hack can exploit vulnerabilities in a variety of systems, including:

• Operating systems
• Web browsers
• Office applications
• Open-source components
• Hardware and firmware
• Internet of Things (IoT)

As a result, there is a broad range of potential victims:

(i) Individuals who use a vulnerable system, such as a browser or operating system Hackers can use security vulnerabilities to compromise devices and build large botnets

(ii) Individuals with access to valuable business data, such as intellectual property

(iii) Hardware devices, firmware, and the Internet of Things

(iv) Large businesses and organizations

(v) Government agencies

(vi) Political targets and/or national security threats

How To Detect Vulnerability Of Zero-Day Attack?

By definition, no patches or antivirus exist yet for zero-day exploits, making them difficult to detect. But still I'm going to discuss some ways of how to prevent zero-day attacks. There are several ways to detect previously unknown software vulnerabilities.

1. Vulnerability scanning

Vulnerability scanning can help find some zero-day exploits. Security firms that offer vulnerability scanning tools can assess code, model software attacks, and search for any fresh vulnerabilities that might have emerged following a program update.

This approach cannot be used to find all zero-day exploits. In order to halt the assault, firms must act on the scan's findings, perform code reviews, and sanitize their code, even for those it does identify. Contrary to popular assumption, most organizations take time to fix freshly discovered flaws, however, attackers can move quickly to exploit a zero-day flaw.

2. Patch management

Deploying software updates as quickly as feasible for recently identified software vulnerabilities is another tactic. While this cannot stop zero-day attacks, it can dramatically lower the risk of an attack by swiftly installing patches and software upgrades.

The implementation of security fixes, however, may be delayed due to three issues. It takes time for software providers to identify vulnerabilities, create a patch, and make it available to consumers. Additionally, applying the patch to organizational systems may take some time. A zero-day attack is more likely the longer this procedure takes.

3. Input validation and sanitization

Many of the problems that exist in vulnerability scanning and patch administration are resolved by input validation. While they are performing lengthy processes like cleaning code or repairing systems, it doesn't leave firms vulnerable. It is significantly more adaptable, able to respond to emerging threats in real-time, and is run by security specialists.

Installing a web application firewall (WAF) on the network edge is one of the best strategies to stop zero-day attacks. All incoming traffic is examined by a WAF, which removes malicious inputs that might target security flaws.

Additionally, runtime application self-protection (RASP) is the most current development in the struggle against zero-day threats. Applications can defend themselves by using RASP agents, which sit inside them and examine request payloads in the context of the application code at runtime to decide if a request is legitimate or malicious.

Zero-Day Attacks Happened In The Past

Some recent examples of zero-day attacks include:

• 2021: Chrome zero-day vulnerability

In 2021, Google's Chrome experienced a progression of zero-day dangers, causing issues in Chrome updates. The weakness originated from a bug in the V8 JavaScript engine utilized in the internet browser.

• 2020: Zoom

A flaw was discovered in the well-liked video conferencing system. In this illustration of a zero-day attack, if a user had an older version of Windows installed on their PC, hackers could log in remotely. The hacker could entirely take over the victim's computer and access all of their files if they were an administrator.

• 2020: Apple iOS

The most secure of the major smartphone operating systems is, of course, Apple's iOS. However, it became vulnerable to at least two different sets of iOS zero-day weaknesses in 2020, including one that allowed hackers to remotely compromise iPhones.

• 2019: Microsoft Windows, Eastern Europe

This attack targeted government organizations in Eastern Europe and concentrated on local escalation privileges, a weak point in Microsoft Windows. In order to run arbitrary code, install programs, read, and modify the data on affected applications, the zero-day attack took advantage of a local privilege vulnerability in Microsoft Windows. A patch was created and released after the threat was discovered and reported to the Microsoft Security Response Center.

• 2017: Microsoft Word

Personal bank accounts were compromised by this zero-day vulnerability. People who unknowingly opened a malicious Word document were the victims. Users were presented with a pop-up window asking them to allow another program external access when the document displayed a "load remote content" prompt. When users selected "yes," the document planted malware on their computer that was able to log into their bank accounts.

• Stuxnet

Stuxnet was among the most well-known instances of a zero-day attack. This harmful computer worm, which had its origins in 2005 but was just recently found, attacked factory systems running PLC software. Iran's uranium enrichment facilities were the main target in an effort to thwart the nation's nuclear program. Through flaws in the Siemens Step7 software, the worm infiltrated the PLCs, enabling them to issue unexpected commands to assembly-line equipment. Zero Days, a documentary on Stuxnet, was subsequently produced.

Zero-Day Exploit Prevention:

As zero-day exploits and zero-day viruses cannot be easily discovered, prevention of the zero-day exploit becomes difficult. There is hardly any way to protect against zero-day exploitation as we don’t have any idea about its occurrence well in advance. We can reduce the level of risk and do the zero-day protection by opting for any of the following strategies:

• Implementation of IP security protocol ( IPSec).
• Usage of virtual local area networks.
• Deployment of intrusion detection system (IDS) or intrusion prevention system (IPS).
• Usage of network access control protocols.
• Usage of security schemes such as Wi-Fi Protected Access 2.
• Keeping all systems up to date.
• Performing periodic vulnerability scanning.

Bottom Line

A zero-day attack is an important cybersecurity risk that takes advantage of flaws in hardware, software, or firmware, frequently before developers have a chance to fix them. Individual users, huge corporations, and governmental institutions are all potential targets for these attacks. Due to their sudden and unpredictable nature, zero-day exploits are difficult to detect and prevent. Being ready and knowledgeable is our best defense against this constant cybersecurity danger, even though we cannot foresee when and where the next zero-day attack will happen.