The trade in zero-day vulnerabilities and associated exploits is growing rapidly. Mandiant examined the many exploits and summarized the results in a report. China, Russia and North Korea in particular are the major providers of exploits.
Zero-day exploits have become so popular among hackers that they have a market of their own. The exploit industry is financially very profitable for criminals, which is why it is constantly growing. Microsoft, Google's Chrome browser - even the big players are not protected from criminals finding and exploiting security gaps in their systems that were previously unknown.
2021: Record year for zero-day vulnerabilities
In 2021, more zero-day vulnerabilities became known than ever before. Mandiant took this as an opportunity to take a closer look at the exploits and summarized the findings in a report.
The main findings of the analysis
- In 2021, Mandiant Intelligence identified 80 zero-day vulnerabilities that were exploited in the wild. That's more than double the previous record volume set in 2019.
- State-sponsored groups continue to be the main players exploiting zero-day vulnerabilities - particularly Chinese groups.
- Almost 1 in 3 identified hackers exploiting zero-day vulnerabilities in 2021 were financially motivated.
- One factor driving up the exploitation of zero-day vulnerabilities has been the shift to cloud hosting, mobile devices, and IoT technologies. This evolution has increased the number and complexity of the systems and devices connected to the Internet. In simple terms, more software leads to more software bugs.
The full report can also be read directly from Mandiant.
About Mandiant Mandiant is a recognized leader in dynamic cyber defense, threat intelligence and incident response. With decades of experience on the cyber frontline, Mandiant helps organizations confidently and proactively defend against cyber threats and respond to attacks. Mandiant is now part of Google Cloud.