The Rise Of Vulnerability Exploitation And How To Stop It
Despite overall greater awareness and emphasis on the importance of secure coding and software deployment, there’s been a surprising uptick in vulnerability exploitation. Threat actors continue to probe for weaknesses in code that they can exploit to achieve malicious aims. And they’re being successful with this in 2024. But what do the trends actually show, why are vulnerability exploits rising, and how can you reduce these risks for your business? Read on to learn more.
Increased Vulnerability Exploitation: The Numbers
While attackers still rely on things like phishing emails, deceptive websites, and compromised credentials, the 2024 increase in vulnerability exploitation caught many in the cybersecurity world by surprise. It’s not that threat actors stopped looking for vulnerabilities in software and systems, but they tended to get more success with other methods of initial access.
Recent research found vulnerability exploitation was the initial access method in 38 percent of analyzed network intrusions. Further research conducted by Verizon in their 2024 Data Breach Investigations Report found that vulnerability exploitation increased by 180 percent. To top things off, a recent report by Coalition estimated a 25% rise in the total count of published common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs) for 2024.
Why Are Vulnerability Exploits Growing?
It’s clear that the numbers are only going in one direction when it comes to vulnerability exploits. But what’s going on here, what explains this trend? The answer comes from a convergence of several factors, each impacting the frequency of vulnerabilities and the speed at which threat actors find and exploit them.
● Depending on third party code—today’s application ecosystem is more complex than ever, with apps relying more on third-party libraries, open-source components, and dependencies than ever. Threat actors often target open-source projects and other dependencies with the aim of infiltrating apps. This dependance comes with the upside of allowing developers to focus more on innovative features and functions in software, but the downside is increased software supply chain risks.
● Changing application architecture—companies increasingly use platforms like Kubernetes and Docker to package and deploy applications in a consistent and isolated manner. This use of so-called “containers” can introduce vulnerabilities at multiple levels, including the container images, the container runtime, and the orchestration platform.
● Inadequate patch management—Despite awareness, many companies still struggle with patching and updating their systems on time. IT teams have other competing priorities, and patching sometimes gets left on the back burner until the last minute. This lag opens windows of opportunity for attackers to exploit known vulnerabilities.
● Increased zero-day vulnerabilities—Driven by huge profitability in the dark web’s zero-day broker market, more threat actors than ever are looking for zero-day vulnerabilities in apps that the vendor doesn’t yet know about. While some ethical hackers disclose these to the vendor, malicious actors seek a payday and often sell these zero-days online. Armed with a zero-day, threat actors often infiltrate apps secretly and lurk there without detection. Currently, a zero-day exploit that can remotely access an iPhone’s iOS software commands around €2.3 million.
● Generative AI hacking tools—One dark side of popular large language models like Chat-GPT is that cybercriminals are making their own malicious versions of this technology. One such tool is WormGPT, which can effortlessly generate malicious code to exploit vulnerabilities. The availability of these tools significantly lowers the barriers to entry for exploiting vulnerabilities. Previously, being able to exploit vulnerabilities required extensive technical knowledge, but now some of the process can be automated.
How To Combat This Trend?
There’s no getting around the fact that this is a tricky trend to deal with. It might seem like just another fire to put out in an already complicated and busy threat landscape. But it’s not like vulnerability exploitation is anything new; the increase in exploits just further highlights the need to get the basics right.
One thing to do is make sure you have tools to analyze and manage dependencies, such as Software Composition Analysis (SCA) tools. Often, the web apps that you use to power important processes at your company might rely on code that you didn’t even know about. These tools help you keep on top of dependencies and patch them on time when new updates get released.
Implementing automated security monitoring and response capabilities, along with continuous configuration management, can help maintain security in dynamic environments like the cloud, where instances are spun up and down based on demand. Also, while attackers might leverage automation, you can too. Look for automated patch management tools that minimize the window in which any of your apps or systems might be vulnerable.
Finally, the rise of vulnerability exploitation underscores the need for regular, in-depth pen testing conducted by expert testers. Regular in-depth pen tests simulate sophisticated attack vectors that exploit complex interdependencies in your environment. These tests can reveal not only surface-level vulnerabilities but also deep, complex issues such as dependency chain flaws, API security weaknesses, and misconfigurations in cloud setups, container orchestration platforms (like Kubernetes), and Infrastructure as Code (IaC) scripts.
Stop Vulnerability Exploitation With The DIESEC Pen Testing Service
The companies that have the internal resources for in-depth pen tests are few and far between. Engaging with DIESEC as an external partner for pen tests provides you with the deep expertise needed to find even the trickiest vulnerabilities but at a far lower cost. Our pen testing service reduces risks from vulnerability exploitation and gives you actionable insights that continually improve your security posture.