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What’s a zero-day and why they’re scary
Reconsider not updating your technology
This past week, Apple released an update to patch 2 zero-day exploits.
This is a good time to explain zero-day exploits and vulnerabilities. Zero-days are dangerous.
There are 3 types of zero-days
- Vulnerability
- Exploit
- Attack
What’s a zero-day vulnerability?
Zero-day exploits are problems (called bugs or faults) in software or hardware without a fix. These are dangerous because in a lot of cases the manufacturer of the product is unaware of the hole. It is called a zero-day until there is a fix for the bug. These bugs may be unknown to anyone. This is why big tech companies have bug bounty programs. Because there’s a ton of money to be made in exploits, they want to make sure these vulnerabilities don’t fall into the wrong hands.
What’s a zero-day exploit?
The zero-day vulnerability is the problem, the exploit is the way the vulnerability is used. Someone with bad intentions will take this vulnerability and create software or a way to use the bug. Typically, they would use it to gain access to a device or install malicious software.
