Stay informed on the latest exploit trends and vulnerabilities. Get expert insights and updates on information security exploits with our dedicated tag.
Search across headline titles and summaries.
Background for this topic.
An exploit is code, data, or a sequence of actions that uses a software, hardware, or configuration vulnerability to produce unintended behavior. Depending on the flaw and the attacker’s access, it may enable unauthorized code execution, privilege escalation, information disclosure, or denial of service. Exploitation can occur remotely through exposed services, web applications, or client software, or locally after an attacker gains limited access.
Exploitation matters because a vulnerability becomes an active attack path when the required conditions are reachable and exploitable. Defenders should inventory affected assets, prioritize remediation when exploitation is known or credible, apply patches or vendor mitigations, and reduce exposure through access controls, segmentation, and secure configuration. Monitoring for exploit-specific indicators—such as abnormal requests, unexpected processes, or privilege changes—supports detection; systems suspected of successful exploitation require containment and investigation for follow-on access.
Ransomware and other financially motivated threat actors joined nation-state-backed groups in leveraging unpatched flaws in attack campaigns, new data shows.
A large number of enterprise applications are affected by the vulnerability in log4j, but adversaries aren't just looking for the most common applications. They are looking for targets that are easier to exploit and/or have the biggest payoff.
Mandiant data also shows a dramatic drop in attacker dwell time on victim networks in the Asia-Pacific region — to 21 days in 2021 from 76 days in 2020.