With Microsoft’s latest security patch rolled out and 84 unknown flaws fixed this brings on the question, what is a zero-day exploit?
A zero-day exploit is a vulnerability that is unknown by the developers or end-users until essentially, it’s too late. This can cause devastating damage to all end-users as, by the time you notice something wrong, a virus is already present, or information has been taken hence the term “Zero-Day” which the overall meaning is Zero days to rectify the issue.
Now, this all does sound very scary but Microsoft releases security patches periodically to mitigate the issue and patch out a problem before it occurs. There is always an exploit that will slip through the cracks and remain unknown until it is bought to light by ethical means or causes devastating damage.
Steps to take to avoid Zero-Day Exploits:
- Keep Windows Updated with the latest security updates
Microsoft releases these very regularly and are there to prevent virus issues and exploits from occurring, if this is out of date you are much more susceptible to attacks due to newly patched exploits not being patched in your security update.
- Be careful what you do online
This sentiment is reiterated time and time again, but it’s crucial to keeping you safe in the information technology world. Don’t click on anything that seems strange or out of place and look for signs such as misspellings and incorrect mannerisms.
- Have a firewall and antivirus active
This is also key for protecting you and your digital devices, these tools will help prevent attacks and detect viruses that enter your system via in-built system scanning technology, then taking the necessary steps to remove or quarantine the affected files
- Contact an IT Professional for advice
Like us here at Computer assistance, we will be able to provide advice and solutions to a majority of IT related issues, this includes malicious software and hacking attempts. As IT professionals we will do the upmost to resolve any zero-day attacks and give you advice on how to avoid any future potential issues.
