Cybersecurity has become an increasingly popular topic over the last decade, and there is a good reason to do so, as almost every business or individual has an online presence. In recent years especially, the overall capabilities of hackers have reached new levels, which has led to an increase in different types of exploits and much more, with one of the most damaging being zero-day exploits.
What are zero-day exploits?
In basic terms, a zero-day exploit is a cyber attack that is carried out on the very same day that the security flaw is discovered. It’s worth noting, the exploit or hacks as such often occurs before a patch has even been developed, meaning there is very little the company can do about the security flaw until the developer has developed a suitable fix.
- How is it discovered?
It’s often very hard to identify how the exploit was first discovered, though it often revolves around a leak in information from an employee or inside source that has accidentally released the information. A further extreme example is when the hacker themselves actually finds and reports the issue to the company, but then uses the exploit as leverage in order to get something from the business in return.
- What are they looking to exploit?
It’s also unlikely that you will know what they are trying to exploit to take until the attack is over. That being said, a few of the most known intentions include taking control of a computer system, steal data, import malware and use sensitive information for blackmail.
Who are we?
We are catalyst2, one of the UK’s most reputable and known web hosting providers. As a business, we have been working within the industry for almost two decades, enabling us to receive numerous awards based on our customer service and solutions that we provide. Part of our services we offer web hosting and server management services, as well as security solutions including zero-day exploit protection.
How we can help
- Web application firewall
Web application firewalls are one of the many approaches that can be utilised to aid with the prevention of a zero-day exploit. It primarily works as a defence recognition to shield your website and any sensitive data as it will detect any malicious attacks and identify the most suitable approach to block a further attack. Although this can’t directly treat the attack, it will certainly help with stopping the exploit from reaching its full potential.
- Install an SSL Certificate
Although they aren’t mandatory, SSL Certificates should be installed on every website regardless. This is because the general public is becoming increasingly aware of the importance of having the certificated implemented, after all, it does ensure that information that is sent and received to the client is secured at all times.
- Automated Security Patching
Whilst you are working away, you can rest assured knowing that we are making a difference. By using automated security patching, all of our servers will automatically scan to guarantee that no zero-day exploits make it to our server and into our systems, further protecting your computing software. In addition to this, our Linux based servers have the capabilities to patch the issue without even needing a reboot, providing both top-class security and fantastic uptime simultaneously.
Contact our team
For those that are keen on finding out more, we recommend getting in touch when you have the chance. By calling 0800 107 7979, you can get in touch with one of our specialists who will be more than happy to address any questions regarding zero-day exploits, as well as providing additional information if needed.
For general enquiries regarding any of our other web hosting or server solutions, you can call us once again or send an email with your message and contact details to sales@catalyst2.com. One of our experts will then be in touch at the earliest convenience who will be happy to arrange a consultation so that you can discuss further how we can assist your business.