Tag Archives: Security Systems

Concerns over the extent to which internet security systems can prevent cyber-attacks have been raised by the specter of “Zero day” vulnerabilities. In March 2010 Microsoft acknowledged that significant issues exist in editions of Internet Explorer published since 2001. These internet security system flaws are referred to as Zero day issues because they become known to hackers before the software designers are aware of them. Attacks on internet security systems based on these flaws, referred to as exploits, are then launched before the point at which designers know about the vulnerabilities or have the opportunity to modify them. Dealing with Zero day flaws is a major problem for an internet security system in part because it is difficult or impossible to say when the hackers might have discovered them. The long period before Microsoft discovered the existence of issues with its products illustrates the size of the problem. Though Internet Explorer 8, the company’s latest edition of its popular browser, does not have the new internet security system flaw, Internet Explorer 6 and 7 can allow hackers to remotely execute attacks on users’ computers. As of yet, there have been no major attempts to breach internet security systems through this … Continue reading