{"id":4600,"date":"2021-08-10T11:20:47","date_gmt":"2021-08-10T16:20:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stratospherenetworks.com\/blog\/?p=4600"},"modified":"2021-08-10T11:20:47","modified_gmt":"2021-08-10T16:20:47","slug":"how-to-protect-your-business-from-the-growing-threat-of-zero-day-malware","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stratospherenetworks.com\/blog\/how-to-protect-your-business-from-the-growing-threat-of-zero-day-malware\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Protect Your Business From the Growing Threat of Zero-Day Malware"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AYou’ve probably heard\u00a0the idiom<\/a>, “Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t.” When it comes to cybersecurity, it’s definitely easier to fend off familiar and easily recognizable threats than brand new ones. Unfortunately, zero-day malware is on the rise: The vast majority (74 percent) of malware detected during the first quarter of 2021 was zero-day, or “polymorphic, evasive malware that bypasses signature-based protections on day ‘zero’ of its release,” according to a report from\u00a0WatchGuard’s Threat Lab<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That means stopping threats from infiltrating your organization’s network is more difficult than ever, as IT security tools like traditional anti-virus software that rely on known signatures won’t recognize most of the malicious entities trying to sneak past your defenses. If you haven’t already, it’s time to invest in more advanced security solutions and services to improve your ability to identify and eliminate novel malware before it has the chance to do extensive damage.<\/p>\n

What Is Zero-Day Malware and Why Is It Cause for Concern?<\/h2>\n

In a nutshell, zero-day malware is malicious software that’s just been released and no one knows about yet, according to\u00a0Techopedia<\/a>. This type of cybersecurity threat might slip in via an email attachment or disguise itself as an innocuous file in order to infect the target’s systems. While patches and updates can often fix the issue and prevent the incident from recurring, zero-day malware can be problematic because it’s still unknown and won’t sound any alarms if you\u00a0rely on cybersecurity solutions that leverage signature-based detection methods, which utilize known indicators of compromise (IOCs), according to the\u00a0Center for Internet Security (CIS)<\/a>. While a signature-based approach effectively fends off known assailants, it will allow new pernicious programs to slip through the cracks.<\/p>\n

The Best Solutions for Combating Zero-Day Threats<\/h2>\n

To achieve the highest level of protection, the CIS recommends combining signature-based cybersecurity solutions with tools that perform anomaly-based detection, which involves monitoring for alterations in behavior compared to a known baseline. For both signature and anomaly-based detection tools, you need a team of experienced security professionals to implement and oversee them and respond to alerts.<\/p>\n

If you’re looking to augment your ability to spot and respond to zero-day malware as rapidly as possible, you might want to consider the following\u00a0advanced cybersecurity solutions and services<\/a>:<\/p>\n