Zero-click hacks are no longer for secret agents and sci-fi movies with unrealistic plots. Based on developments in the cybersecurity world, zero-click hacks are growing at a steady pace – especially on the grim end of things. Such attacks are usually highly targeted in nature, and deploy a far more sophisticated strategy than the large scale cyber attacks that we see and know about on a daily basis. These attacks can have massive consequences, causing you to lose complete control over your life without knowing that something is wrong in the background.
What exactly are zero-click hacks?
They are what the name suggests – hacks that can be executed without a single voluntary action on the part of the victim. in typical cyber attacks, breaching and exploiting individual users, hackers typically set traps such as a phishing network, where a user is tricked into clicking on a vulnerable URL, or downloading an attachment that contains macros containing embedded malware. . In other words, if you fall victim to a “standard” cyberattack, chances are high that at least at some point, you may have clicked on a malicious link, or taken some action that triggered the breach. . A zero-click hack, in this regard, potentially bypasses all of that.
Therefore, a zero-click hack can be any cyber attack that exploits a flaw in the device you are using – be it iOS or Android, and Windows or macOS, which uses a data validation flaw To do its job in your system. In simple words, most of the software in the world employs various forms and processes of data verification to keep all known cyber breaches out the door. However, there are still frequent zero-day hacks that have yet to be patched, which are invaluable resources for cybercriminals. These hacks give way to hackers to carry out highly sophisticated cyber attacks that can be implemented today with zero actions on your part.
How do zero-click hacks work?
For example, take Notorious WhatsApp breach in 2019 Which was triggered by a missed call – the attack in question essentially rendered any user defenseless for all practical reasons, as no one could realistically prevent themselves from receiving any missed calls. The missed call trick took advantage of a flaw in the source code framework of WhatsApp, the world’s most popular messaging app. This zero-day exploit (cyber vulnerabilities that are not already known or patched) allowed an attacker to load spyware into the data exchange between two devices to cause a missed call. Once loaded, spyware will automatically be enabled as a background resource, embedded deep inside your device’s software framework.
A key feature of Zero-Click Hack is its ability to leave no trace, which is used by cyber security agencies to track sophisticated attacks. a Post on zero-click exploits Bill Markzak, security researcher at The Citizen Lab, says, “The current trend toward zero-click infection vectors and more sophisticated anti-forensic capabilities is part of a broader industry-wide shift toward more sophisticated, less detectable means of surveillance. This is a predictable technological development, but it adds to the technical challenges facing both network administrators and investigators.”
Is there any defense against such hacks?
Markzak and his team further note in the Citizen Lab report that even while there are potential identifiers, these hacks are far more complex than previously thought. “While it is still possible to detect zero-click attacks, the technical effort required to identify cases increases markedly, as does the logistical complexity of investigations. As techniques become more sophisticated, spyware developers will are better able to constrain their activities, operate unhindered in the global surveillance market, and thus facilitate continued human rights abuses while avoiding public accountability.”
This is what makes defending zero-click adventures the biggest challenge. Google Project Zero’s cybersecurity expert Ian Beer found out This marathon zero-click exploit of iPhones Back in 2020, and specifically underlined, “The takeaway from this project shouldn’t be: no one will spend six months of their life just hacking my phone, I’m fine. Instead, it should be: One person, working alone in their bedroom, was able to build a capability that would allow them to seriously compromise iPhone users with whom they would come in close contact.”
Beer suggests that one way to build protection against zero-click hacks would be for the largest consumer companies to pool their resources on this front. As he notes, “Sharing information with the security community goes a long way in understanding those tradeoffs. Measuring the true impact requires an estimation of its impact across the entire gamut of vulnerabilities, and it is in this estimation.” This is where defensive and offensive communities differ. As things currently stand, there are probably too many good vulnerabilities for any of these mitigations to pose too much of a challenge to a motivated attacker. And, of course, only the future. The mitigation in K’s hardware does not benefit the billions of devices already shipped and currently in use.”
As things stand, Markzak believes the biggest problem is how difficult it is to identify zero-click hacks, before taking action. As they say, “Target might not see anything suspicious on their phone. Even if they look something like ‘strange’ call behaviour, the event may be transient and leave no trace on the device. The shift towards zero-click attacks by an industry and abuse of customers already steeped in privacy increases the chances.”
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