What is a Zero-Day Exploit?
Zero-day exploits target software or application vulnerabilities that the vendor is not yet aware of or hasn’t yet acknowledged, which means there is no patch immediately available. The hacker is generally the only one aware of the existence of these types of vulnerabilities. Day zero refers to the day a vendor becomes aware of a given vulnerability and starts developing a patch.
How to Recognize This Threat: Machine learning that establishes baselines for normal system behavior and creates signatures for known malware to detect when something is awry. Additionally, analyzing software interactions for abnormal behavior that could be a result of malware.
How to Prevent This Threat: Ensure your computers (including OS and all applications) are fully patched, and you have active antivirus or endpoint security. See the options from Sophos and SonicWall to secure your endpoint.