What Is a Zero-Day Attack?
Let me explain what a zero-day attack is—it's an attack that targets a serious software security weakness that the vendor or developer doesn't even know about yet. As soon as it's discovered, the developer has to scramble to fix it to protect users, and that fix comes in the form of a software patch. These attacks aren't limited to regular software; they can hit the internet of things (IoT) too.
The name 'zero-day' comes straight from the fact that the developer has had zero days to address the problem before the attack happens.
Key Takeaways
- A zero-day attack is a software-related attack that exploits a weakness that a vendor or developer was unaware of.
- The name comes from the number of days a software developer has known about the problem.
- The solution to fixing a zero-day attack is known as a software patch.
- Zero-day attacks can be prevented, though not always, through antivirus software and regular system updates.
- There are different markets for zero-day attacks that range from legal to illegal. They include the white market, grey market, and dark market.
Understanding a Zero-Day Attack
You should know that a zero-day attack can involve things like malware, adware, spyware, or even unauthorized access to your information. To protect yourself, set your software—your operating system, antivirus, and browsers—to update automatically, and install any extra updates right away.
That said, even updated antivirus won't always shield you from a zero-day attack because until the vulnerability is public, the antivirus might not detect it. Host intrusion prevention systems can help by blocking intrusions and safeguarding data.
Picture a zero-day vulnerability like an unlocked car door that the owner believes is locked, but a thief finds it open. The thief slips in, grabs valuables from the glove compartment or trunk, and you might not notice until days later when the damage is done and they're gone.
While criminal hackers often exploit these vulnerabilities, government agencies use them too for surveillance or attacks. There's high demand from these agencies, which fuels a market for buying and selling zero-day info and exploits.
Zero-day exploits might get disclosed publicly, just to the software vendor, or sold to third parties—with or without exclusive rights. From the software company's view, the ideal is an ethical hacker or white hat privately disclosing the flaw so it can be fixed before criminals find it. Sometimes, though, multiple parties need to fix it, making full private disclosure impossible.
Markets for Zero-Day Attacks
In the dark market, criminal hackers trade details on breaking through vulnerable software to steal data. The grey market sees researchers and companies selling info to militaries, intelligence, and law enforcement. In the white market, companies pay white hat hackers to find and disclose vulnerabilities to developers for fixes before criminals spot them.
Depending on the buyer, seller, and value, zero-day info can fetch from a few thousand to hundreds of thousands of dollars—it's a lucrative field. Sellers must provide a proof-of-concept (PoC) to prove the exploit works before any deal. For anonymous trades, the Tor network lets you conduct zero-day transactions with Bitcoin without detection.
Zero-day attacks aren't always as threatening as they seem. Governments might have simpler ways to spy, and zero-days aren't always the best for exploiting businesses or people. You have to deploy them strategically and secretly for max effect—hitting millions of computers at once could expose the vulnerability and lead to a quick patch, ruining the attackers' plans.
Real World Examples
Take April 2017, when Microsoft learned of a zero-day attack on its Word software. Attackers used the Dridex banker trojan to exploit an unpatched vulnerability, embedding malicious code in Word docs that triggered on opening. McAfee discovered it and alerted Microsoft, but millions had been targeted since January.
More recently, Google's Chrome browser faced multiple zero-day attacks in 2022 alone, prompting Google to urge updates at least four times that year.
Why Is it Called a Zero-Day Attack?
The term 'zero-day' or '0-day' refers to a software exploit where the developer has just learned of it, giving them literally zero days to fix it before it's exploited.
How Are Zero-Day Attacks Fixed?
Once a developer knows about a zero-day attack, they identify and fix the exploit quickly with a software patch or upgrade.
What Was the Most Famous Zero-Day Attack?
Among many examples, the 2014 Sony Pictures hack stands out—it used an unknown vulnerability to install malware that deleted or damaged files related to new films, costing millions and harming Sony's reputation. Many believe North Korean agents did it in retaliation for the film 'The Interview,' which mocked their leader Kim Jong Un.
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