Overview#
Previously unknown vulnerability with no available patch. Highly sought by attackers and requires layered mitigations and behavioral detection.
Core objectives#
- Establish shared definitions of Zero-Day for security, engineering, and leadership teams.
- Connect Zero-Day activities to measurable risk reduction and resilience goals.
- Provide onboarding notes so new team members can quickly understand how Zero-Day works here.
Implementation notes#
- Identify the primary owner for Zero-Day, the data sources involved, and the systems affected.
- Document the minimum viable process, tooling, and runbooks that keep Zero-Day healthy.
- Map Zero-Day practices to standards such as ISO/IEC 27001, NIST CSF, or CIS Controls.
Operational signals#
- Leading indicators: early warnings that Zero-Day might degrade (e.g., backlog growth, noisy alerts, or missed SLAs).
- Lagging indicators: realized impact that shows Zero-Day failed or needs investment (e.g., incidents, audit findings).
- Feedback loops: retrospectives and metrics reviews that tune Zero-Day continuously.
Related practices#
- Align Zero-Day with defense-in-depth planning, threat modeling, and disaster recovery tests.
- Communicate updates to stakeholders through concise briefs, dashboards, and internal FAQs.
- Pair Zero-Day improvements with tabletop exercises to validate expectations.