ITPEC IP April 2024 Question 35

A zero-day attack exploits a software vulnerability before an effective countermeasure is publicly available or deployable. Defenders have had essentially zero days to prepare once exploitation becomes known. The vulnerability may be unknown to the vendor, or known but not yet fixed, leaving systems exposed until a patch, configuration mitigation, or detection method is available.

Answer (c)

Why not others:
- (a) zero-day does not mean an attack that stops a system within 24 hours
- (b) it does not refer to a virus without an incubation period
- (d) social engineering and eavesdropping are different attack methods and do not define zero-day exploitation

Key rule: The word day measures defender preparation time, not attack duration or symptom delay: a zero-day vulnerability is exploited before users have a ready fix.

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