The digital world moves fast, and unfortunately, so do cyber attackers. Recent reports show a concerning trend: attackers are quickly finding and using weaknesses in software and systems to break into businesses. This kind of attack, often targeting what are called “CVEs” or known security vulnerabilities, is now a major way attackers get access to sensitive information, contributing to a significant percentage of data breaches. But there are ways businesses can fight back.
A recent report highlighted that as many as 159 known security weaknesses (CVEs) were actively used by attackers in the first three months of 2025. What’s particularly alarming is the speed at which this happens: 28.3% of these weaknesses were exploited within just 24 hours of being publicly known. That’s 45 different flaws weaponized against businesses in less than a day! Many of these exploited weaknesses were found in common business tools like those managing website content, network devices that connect businesses to the internet, operating systems, and server software. Prominent targets included systems from major vendors like Microsoft Windows and Broadcom VMware.
Why does this matter to your business? Exploiting these weaknesses is a significant way attackers gain their initial foothold. This access can then be used for various harmful activities, like stealing data or deploying ransomware. The report from Verizon shows that the use of these exploited weaknesses to get initial access for data breaches grew by 34%, accounting for 20% of all intrusions. Data from Mandiant also confirmed that these kinds of exploits were the most frequent way attackers initially got into systems for the fifth year in a row. Even though security teams are getting better at finding attackers once they are inside (the average time an attacker stays hidden decreased slightly), stopping them from getting in at all is the best defense.
This is where a comprehensive security solution becomes vital. Imagine having a platform that helps you close these security gaps quickly and detect suspicious activity if an attacker tries to get in. This is the role of a unified solution like the IT360 security platform.
Here’s how the IT360 platform helps businesses address the threat of rapidly exploited vulnerabilities:
- Stopping Attacks Before They Start: Closing the Doors Attackers Use
- A primary way the IT360 platform helps is through Automated Patch Management. Attackers often exploit weaknesses for which a fix (a “patch”) is already available, but hasn’t been applied yet [4, inferred]. The IT360 platform automates the process of applying these critical security updates to your computers and applications. This significantly reduces the window of opportunity attackers have, ensuring your systems are secured quickly and preventing simple human error in applying patches.
- The platform also includes Risk Management features that actively identify weak spots in your systems, like outdated software or risky settings, and helps you prioritize fixing them. By addressing these potential entry points, you make your business a much harder target.
- Crucially, the IT360 platform offers Exploit Defense. This technology is designed to recognize and block the specific methods attackers use to exploit weaknesses, even for newly discovered ones (zero-day exploits). It watches for suspicious behavior and blocks malicious processes.
- Catching Attacks in Progress or After They Happen: Monitoring for Trouble
- Even with strong defenses, vigilant monitoring is essential. The IT360 platform allows you to monitor important services running on your systems, alerting you if a service unexpectedly stops and even allowing you to restart it remotely. Attackers might try to stop security services after gaining access.
- Process Monitoring is another key feature. The platform can watch running programs and notify you if a suspicious program starts or behaves unusually.
- Monitoring Event Logs is like reviewing a security camera feed for your systems. The IT360 platform helps you watch these logs and alerts you to specific entries that might indicate a problem, such as login failures or suspicious errors. These monitoring rules can be easily applied across many machines using policies.
- Leveraging Threat Intelligence, the platform stays updated on the latest attack methods, helping it better detect and respond to threats, including those using new exploits.
- It uses Behavioral Monitoring and Process Protection to constantly check for signs of suspicious activity from running programs and automatically stops them if they cross a certain threshold.
- Automating Your Defense: Responding at Machine Speed
- The IT360 platform includes powerful Automation capabilities. You can set up “Rules” to automatically react to alerts. For instance, if a critical service crashes (which could happen after an exploit attempt), the platform can be configured to automatically restart it and run a cleanup script.
- These automated tasks can run various scripts (like PowerShell) to perform remediation actions, saving valuable time when every second counts during a security incident.
- In cases where exploits lead to ransomware, the IT360 platform offers Ransomware Mitigation to detect encryption, create backups, block the malicious process, and help restore files.
In a world where attackers are constantly and quickly exploiting weaknesses, businesses need robust, multi-layered security. The IT360 security platform provides essential tools like rapid automated patching, proactive risk identification, direct exploit defense, and extensive monitoring and automated response capabilities. By effectively deploying and managing these features, businesses can significantly reduce their risk and build a stronger defense against the growing threat of CVE exploitation and the data breaches that follow.
