Zero-day exploits are boardroom risks, not IT problems
A zero-day vulnerability is a software flaw attackers discover before the vendor knows it exists. The name comes from developers having "zero days" to fix it before exploitation begins. Think of it as a hidden door into your systems with no lock available to buy.
Historically rare, these exploits are now common. 83 were reported in 2021, more than double 2020's count, driven by cloud adoption and bring-your-own-device policies. Meanwhile, 60% of cyberattacks still exploit unpatched vulnerabilities, some dating back to 2017. The problem isn't just zero-days. It's that patching alone no longer works.
Identity platforms are the new target
The shift to cloud changed the attack surface. When a zero-day hits an identity provider like Okta or Azure AD, attackers don't need to "hack" anything. They log in as legitimate users - your CEO, your finance director - and bypass traditional defenses entirely.
Once inside the identity layer, they move laterally across email, financial records, and customer databases without triggering alarms. The 2020 SolarWinds supply chain attack (CVE-2024-23478) and 2021 Microsoft Exchange ProxyLogon flaws (CVE-2021-26855 series) showed how identity compromise enables infrastructure-wide damage.
The business impact is immediate
When a zero-day hits, the consequences cascade beyond IT:
- Operational shutdown: Systems go offline to contain spread, halting production
- Regulatory exposure: GDPR and CCPA fines don't accept "we didn't know" as defense
- Customer exodus: Acquiring new customers costs five times more than retention; breaches accelerate churn
The gap between exploit discovery and patch release can stretch weeks. During that window, traditional defenses are blind.
Better questions for leadership
"Are we protected?" is the wrong question. The answer is always no. Ask instead:
- How do we detect abnormal behavior? (The CFO downloading engineering code at 3 AM from overseas)
- What's our response plan during the patch gap?
- Who owns identity as a business asset, not just an IT function?
- Are we testing against real attacker behavior, or just compliance checklists?
Zero-trust architecture - verifying every request, continuous monitoring, threat hunting based on global intelligence - is the baseline. Resilience becomes competitive advantage when you can detect, contain, and recover while competitors scramble.
Worth noting
Some security professionals argue zero-days are overhyped, pointing out that layered defenses matter more than chasing invisible threats. They have a point: small businesses often suffer most from known-but-unpatched flaws, not exotic zero-days. Vendor risk management and third-party intelligence can provide early warning.
The real shift: Zero-day vulnerabilities are now an inevitable cost of digital business, like currency fluctuation or supply chain risk. Organizations that treat them as strategic concerns - not basement-dwelling sysadmin problems - will outperform those that don't.
We'll see which approach boards choose.