Zero-Day Exploit

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 Zero-Day Exploit 

It’s hardly surprising that the number of zero-day flaws continues on an upward trajectory. But 2021 blew all other years out of the water as malicious actors exploited a total of 58 new zero-day threats, compared to 25 flaws in 2020 and 21 vulnerabilities in 2019. And no doubt the stakes are getting higher as critical systems become more connected. In recent years, hackers have used zero-day attack threats to compromise Microsoft servers and install advanced spyware on smartphones for espionage activities targeting journalists, politicians, and human rights activists. In August 2021, for example, a zero-day vulnerability known as “PwnedPiper” was found in the pneumatic tube systems used by hospitals to transport bloodwork, test samples, and medications, which allowed attackers to exploit flaws in the control panel software while opening the door for unauthorized and unencrypted firmware updates.

What you need to know: A zero-day vulnerability, at its core, is a flaw. It is a weakness within a piece of software or a computer network that hackers take advantage of soon (or immediately) after it becomes available for general use — the term “zero” refers to the same-day window in which these vulnerabilities are abused.

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