The Rising Threat of Zero-Day Vulnerabilities: What Houston Businesses Need to Know About Attack Trends

The cybersecurity world has seen significant shifts in attack patterns throughout 2024, with the recently released M-Trends 2025 report highlighting concerning developments that should put all businesses on alert. From sophisticated state-sponsored actors to financially motivated cybercriminals, threat actors are evolving their tactics and targeting businesses of all sizes.

 The Current Threat Picture

According to Mandiant’s comprehensive M-Trends 2025 report, there was a notable increase in attacks exploiting zero-day vulnerabilities in security appliances and edge devices. These vulnerabilities allow attackers to bypass traditional security controls and gain access to corporate networks without being detected.

The report reveals that exploits remain the most common initial infection vector at 33%, followed by stolen credentials (16%), which saw a concerning increase from 10% in 2023. Email phishing now ranks third at 14%, representing a shift in attack strategies that businesses must address.

 Severity of These Attacks

The severity of these evolving attacks cannot be overstated. Once inside a network, attackers are staying longer – with global median dwell time rising to 11 days in 2024, up from 10 days the previous year. This marks the first increase since M-Trends began reporting this metric.

What makes this particularly concerning is that 57% of organizations only discovered intrusions through external notifications rather than through their own security monitoring. This indicates critical gaps in detection capabilities that leave businesses vulnerable for extended periods.

(Global Dwell Time Distribution – Source: Mandiant M-Trends 2025 Report)

 How These Attacks Are Executed

Modern attackers follow a sophisticated playbook:

1. They identify and exploit vulnerabilities in edge security devices like VPNs, firewalls, and network access controllers
2. They steal legitimate credentials through infostealer malware and social engineering
3. They deploy custom-developed malware designed to evade detection
4. They establish persistence through various backdoor mechanisms
5. They move laterally through networks to accomplish their objectives

The most frequently exploited vulnerabilities in 2024 affected security devices from vendors including Palo Alto Networks (CVE-2024-3400), Ivanti (CVE-2023-46805 and CVE-2024-21887), and Fortinet (CVE-2023-48788).

 Who Is Behind These Attacks

The threat actors range from sophisticated nation-state groups to financially motivated cybercriminals:

• Chinese cyber espionage groups demonstrated remarkable abilities to develop specialized attack tools tailored to specific targets
• North Korean IT workers secured employment under false pretenses to gain inside access to organizations
• Financially motivated groups like UNC2165 and UNC5227 deployed RANSOMHUB ransomware, which became the most prolific data leak site by the second half of 2024
• Iran-nexus threat actors expanded their arsenal of custom malware, with over 45 new malware families discovered in 2024

 Who Is At Risk

While the financial sector was the most targeted industry in 2024 (17.4% of investigations), no industry is immune. Other frequently targeted sectors included:

• Business and professional services (11.1%)
• High tech (10.6%)
• Government (9.5%)
• Healthcare (9.3%)

(Targeted Industries – Source: Mandiant M-Trends 2025 Report)

Small and medium-sized businesses face particular risk as they often lack the robust security controls and monitoring capabilities of larger enterprises, making them attractive targets for attackers seeking easier access.

 How to Protect Your Business

Based on the M-Trends 2025 findings, organizations should implement these critical security measures:

1. Deploy FIDO2-compliant multifactor authentication (MFA) to prevent credential-based attacks
2. Regularly audit and secure internet-exposed infrastructure, especially VPNs and RDP
3. Implement comprehensive patch management for all systems, particularly edge devices
4. Block endpoint scripts and apply content filtering to mitigate web compromise risks
5. Enforce policies against browser-based credential storage to reduce infostealer exposure
6. Enhance hiring verification processes to detect potential insider threats
7. Deploy network segmentation and monitor for lateral movement
8. Improve internal detection and logging capabilities to reduce reliance on external notifications
9. Implement rigorous cloud identity and access monitoring

 How CinchOps Can Help Secure Your Business

With the increasing sophistication of attacks, many small and medium-sized businesses find themselves outmatched by today’s threat actors. CinchOps provides the expertise and solutions needed to establish a robust security posture:

1. Proactive Threat Monitoring: Our 24/7 security monitoring can detect anomalous activities before they escalate, helping to reduce dwell time and minimize damage.
2. Identity and Access Management: We implement and manage FIDO2-compliant MFA solutions to prevent credential-based attacks, which have become increasingly prevalent.
3. Cloud Security Expertise: With cloud compromises on the rise, our specialized knowledge in securing hybrid environments addresses the key challenges identified in the report.
4. Vulnerability Management: We provide regular scanning, prioritization, and remediation assistance to address critical vulnerabilities like those exploited in edge devices.
5. Endpoint Protection: Our solutions block malicious scripts and apply content filtering to mitigate web compromise risks while preventing infostealer infections.
6. Security Awareness Training: We educate your team about the latest threats, including social engineering techniques used by sophisticated threat actors.
7. Incident Response Planning: We help develop and test comprehensive incident response plans to ensure your organization can quickly respond to and recover from security incidents.

Don’t wait until after a breach to strengthen your security. Partner with CinchOps to implement the lessons from the M-Trends 2025 report and protect your organization against today’s sophisticated threat actors. Our expertise allows you to focus on your core business while we handle the complex and ever-changing world of cybersecurity.

 Discover More 

Discover more about our enterprise-grade and business protecting cybersecurity services: CinchOps Cybersecurity
Discover related topics: Insider Threats: 5 Warning Signs That an Employee May Be Stealing Your Company Data
For Additional Information on this topic: Verizon DBIR: Small Businesses Bearing the Brunt of Ransomware Attacks

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