Notes: Zero-Days & The Cybersecurity Industry (Pt.1)

Summary

• A major cybersecurity breach by a China-backed hacker group infiltrated the US wiretap system, exposing critical infrastructure for months, highlighting the dangers of zero-day vulnerabilities.
• We discuss the strategic dilemma that governments face when managing zero-day vulnerabilities and how it sets the stage for a precarious cyber landscape for many years to come.
• We discuss keys players that helped tackle zero-day vulnerabilities in the 2010s and how the industry evolved to becoming dependent on EDR.
• In Part 2 we'll discuss how the treacherous current landscape will evolve the cybersecurity industry, highlighting both established and emerging names to monitor.
• For subscribers on any tier, if you would like a free call to discuss any of the content in this two-part report, email us at service@convequity.com.

A recent Wall Street Journal report revealed that a hacker group, allegedly backed by China, successfully infiltrated the US wiretap system by breaching major telecommunication providers, including Verizon. This incident may potentially be the most significant cybersecurity breach to date, rivaling the 2021 Microsoft Exchange server attack that affected numerous US government departments and possibly many enterprises. The full extent of that earlier breach, only discovered in 2022, is still under investigation.

The gravity of this latest intrusion lies in the fact that the entire US surveillance system was compromised for months, with hackers gaining easy access. Moreover, the telecommunications backbone of the country was exposed for an extended period without detection. Ironically, and somewhat alarmingly, the full context, magnitude, and impact of the breach remain unclear, with even US government agencies unable to provide comprehensive answers.

Based on available information, it appears these attacks typically exploit zero-day vulnerabilities, leaving potential targets defenseless against initial intrusions. In such cases, the only recourse is to detect the breach through monitoring after the hackers have already gained access.

Zero-days

For the layperson, a zero-day vulnerability refers to a security flaw unknown to anyone except the hacker, leaving the victim with "zero days" to patch and fix the issue in their IT system. This differs from typical vulnerabilities in a crucial way.