| | AUGUST - 2023ENTERPRISE SECURITY8IN MY OPINIONIN MY OPINIONCelebrity vulnerabilities are my definition of the cybersecurity vulnerability types mostly falling in the zero-day vulnerability category, but they can be much more. They are those security weaknesses that become popular for one or the other reasons. However, organizations should be prepared to handle any zero-day vulnerability with all possible safeguards and countermeasures because it can lead to potential cyber-attacks or data breaches. The world has seen unprecedented growth in cybersecurity investment over the last few years. Yet, despite pumping in millions of dollars, data breaches are increasing by the day, reaching an all-time high last year. Trends show that this year is not going to be different and at the half-way mark; trends are correct. Celebrity vulnerabilities are called so as their names become famous due to distinct reasons. While not all celebrity vulnerabilities are harmful as the hype, they could sometimes be fatal to an organization. They may result in the loss of confidentiality, integrity, and availability of valuable and sensitive organizational information assets. Therefore, software developers and IT security departments must implement robust security controls. THE WORLD OF CELEBRITY VULNERABILITIES'Celebrity Vulnerabilities' are high-profile vulnerabilities and exploits, and they include hyped-up zero-days and severe bugs with high attacking potential. Due to their catchy names, there are vulnerabilities with high social and industry following. Some famous examples are the RCE vulnerabilities, such as Springshell and Badlock. The Log4j vulnerability is another instance that affects systems and services using the Java logging library and Apache Log4j versions between 2.0 and 2.15. THE CHANGING THREAT LANDSCAPE WITH PANDEMICThe year 2020 and 2021 were the years when the world stayed remote. Let us see how cybersecurity attacks grew significantly from a pre-pandemic world, how the great digital migration changed the way businesses operate in a post-pandemic world, and how the attack surface has expanded and will continue to expand in a post-COVID world.CYBERSECURITY ATTACKS IN A PRE-PANDEMIC WORLD:oPurpleSec reported a total of 812.67 million malware infections in 2018. oA recent Check Point research reported a growth of 40per cent in cyber-attacks globally during the pandemic.THE GREAT DIGITAL MIGRATION IN A POST-PANDEMIC WORLD:COVID-19 has spurred the virtual adoption and increased growth drastically for individuals and businesses alike. It helped companies to go virtual in such a short span of time, but at the same time, it has also opened new avenues of exploitation for cyber adversaries.oBefore COVID-19, only 30per cent of the US employees worked remotely, but as per an Owl Labs report, nearly 70per cent of full-time U.S. workers have worked virtually, and many continue to do so. EXTENDED ATTACK SURFACE IN A POST-PANDEMIC WORLD:oIn one of its surveys, AV-TEST reported 1353 million malware infections in 2022, a more than 30per cent rise from 2018.VULNERABILITY MANAGEMENT DURING ZERO-DAY AND CRISIS SITUATIONS By John Gunter, Head of Threat and Vulnerability Management, Electronic ArtsJohn Gunter
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