Skip to main content

Hackers now exploit new vulnerabilities in just 15 minutes

Hackers are now ​​moving faster than ever when it comes to scanning vulnerability announcements from software vendors.

Threat actors are actively scanning for vulnerable endpoints within a period of just 15 minutes once a new Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) document is published, according to Palo Alto’s 2022 Unit 42 Incident Response Report.

A depiction of a hacker breaking into a system via the use of code.
Getty Images

As reported by Bleeping Computer, the report stresses how hackers are always scanning software vendor bulletin boards, which is where vulnerability announcements are disclosed in the form of CVEs.

Recommended Videos

From here, these threat actors can potentially exploit these details in order to infiltrate a corporate network. It also gives them an opportunity to distribute malicious code remotely.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

“The 2022 Attack Surface Management Threat Report found that attackers typically start scanning for vulnerabilities within 15 minutes of a CVE being announced,” the blog post from Palo Alto’s Unit 42 states.

With hackers becoming more dangerous than ever in recent years, it can take them mere minutes to find a weak point in their target’s system. This is naturally made much easier if they’re aided by a report detailing what exactly can be exploited.

Simply put, system administrators will basically have to expedite their process in addressing the security defects and patch them before the hackers manage to find a way in.

Bleeping Computer highlights how scanning doesn’t require a threat actor to have much experience in the activity to be effective. In fact, anyone with a rudimentary understanding of scanning CVEs can perform a search on the web for any publicly disclosed vulnerable endpoints.

They can then offer such information on dark web markets for a fee, which is when hackers who actually know what they’re doing can buy them.

A large monitor displaying a security hacking breach warning.
Stock Depot / Getty Images

Case in point: Unit 42’s report mentioned CVE-2022-1388, a critical unauthenticated remote command execution vulnerability that was affecting F5 BIG-IP products. After the defect was announced on May 4, 2022, a staggering 2,552 scanning and exploitation attempts were detected within just 10 hours of the initial disclosure.

During the first half of 2022, 55% of exploited vulnerabilities in Unit 42 cases are attributed to ProxyShell, followed by Log4Shell (14%), SonicWall CVEs (7%), and ProxyLogon (5%).

Activity involving hackers, malware, and threat actors in general has evolved at an aggressive rate in recent months. For example, individuals and groups have found a way to plant malicious code onto motherboards that is extremely difficult to remove. Even the Microsoft Calculator app isn’t safe from exploitation.

This worrying state of affairs in the cyber security space has prompted Microsoft to launch a new initiative with its Security Experts program.

Zak Islam
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Zak Islam was a freelance writer at Digital Trends covering the latest news in the technology world, particularly the…
Does your Mac need antivirus software in 2024? We asked the experts
A hacker typing on an Apple MacBook laptop while holding a phone. Both devices show code on their screens.

It’s an age-old question among Apple fans: Does your Mac need antivirus software? Traditionally, the popular answer has been no -- Macs have strong built-in protections, the argument goes, and antivirus apps can potentially slow down your computer. In the end, the trade-off didn’t seem to be worth it.

But is that still true today? After all, Macs are increasingly becoming a target of cybercriminals, with some Mac malware strains supposedly even being created by nation states. In that kind of situation, has the game changed?

Read more
Hackers are using this incredibly sneaky trick to hide malware
A hacker typing on an Apple MacBook laptop, which shows code on its screen.

One of the most important things you can do to protect your online security is install one of the best password managers, but a recent cyberattack proves that you have to be careful even when doing that. Thanks to some sneaky malware hidden in Google Ads, you could end up with viruses riddling your PC.

The issue affects popular password manager KeePass -- or rather, it attempts to impersonate KeePass by using misleading Google Ads. First spotted by Malwarebytes, the nefarious link appears at the top of search results, meaning you’ll likely see it before the legitimate websites that follow beneath it.

Read more
Bing Chat just beat a security check to stop hackers and spammers
A depiction of a hacker breaking into a system via the use of code.

Bing Chat is no stranger to controversy -- in fact, sometimes it feels like there’s a never-ending stream of scandals surrounding it and tools like ChatGPT -- and now the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot has found itself in hot water over its ability to defeat a common cybersecurity measure.

According to Denis Shiryaev, the CEO of AI startup Neural.love, chatbots like Bing Chat and ChatGPT can potentially be used to bypass a CAPTCHA code if you just ask them the right set of questions. If this turns out to be a widespread issue, it could have worrying implications for everyone’s online security.

Read more