After a year dominated by high-profile ransomware attacks and supply chain compromises, researchers from Alphabet, Inc.’s Google have identified another ignominious cyber milepost for 2021: a record number of “zero-day” exploits. READ:
A zero-day exploit is a previously unknown bug which leaves software vendors exactly zero days to secure it. That makes the technology in question particularly valuable to hackers — and a nightmare for cybersecurity professionals.
It’s the highest number of zero-days ever recorded by Project Zero since tracking began in 2014. The trend could be due to an improvement in detection from the likes of Microsoft Corp., Apple, Inc. and Google, who now disclose their findings around zero-day issues, rather than a rise in hacks, Maddie Stone, a security researcher at Project zero, said in a blog post about the findings.
Google’s Ms. Stone said there were some surprises among the data. Despite the recent focus on spyware being misused, cybersecurity researchers are still struggling to find zero-days that allow hackers to take control of targets’ phones.