Hackers Can Exploit Vulnerabilities Quickly

The vulnerabilities that exist in the network, in the devices that we use to navigate or the programs that we install, can be the gateway for hackers. This means that we must always correct any problem that appears. We must install patches and updates that are available. Now, how long does it take for a hacker to find a vulnerability and exploit it? We are going to talk about it.

Hackers Can Exploit Vulnerabilities Quickly

An attacker can exploit a vulnerability immediately

As we have mentioned, vulnerabilities constantly appear that can be exploited by cybercriminals. We are talking about security flaws that arise in our operating systems, the devices we use, the programs we have installed … This can put our personal information at risk, serve as a gateway to the network, theft of passwords …

Hackers know the importance of these breaches. This means that they are constantly scanning the network for these faults. We can say that it is a permanent struggle between organizations that look for vulnerabilities to correct them and those whose search is based on trying to attack.

According to a report that we echo, companies in charge of computer security take an average of 12 hours to detect a new vulnerability. This research has been carried out by Cortex Xpanse of Palo Alto Networks.

Explotar vulnerabilidades rápidamente

The remote desktop, a very important attack vector

This same group of security researchers indicates that almost a third of all attacks that are based on vulnerabilities are present on the remote desktop. It is something that has gained a very important weight in recent years. More and more users need to work remotely and access certain services.

This is widely used by hackers to launch attacks like ransomware . But they are also based on misconfigured servers or zero-day vulnerabilities in certain applications.

We mentioned that it can take up to 12 hours for an organization to detect and fix a vulnerability . However attackers can take as little as 15 minutes in many cases after a problem is detected. From the time the news breaks that there is a failure affecting a specific server, system or program, it can take very little time until attacks are carried out.

Therefore, we can say that cybercriminals often anticipate security measures to take advantage of vulnerabilities. They take advantage of flaws that appear in remote access services, unpatched systems, IoT devices, etc.

To prevent this from happening, to prevent malware and hackers from accessing our computers, we must install updates as soon as possible. Whenever a new patch appears or a bug arises that needs to be corrected, we must do so. In this way we will be able to reduce the possible impact that we can have on our systems. In addition, it is convenient to have security programs in place at all times, as well as to maintain common sense and not make mistakes.

Ultimately, attackers could quickly exploit vulnerabilities. We must always correct any security flaw that appears and have our equipment properly protected. It is something that we must apply regardless of the system we use.