While major attacks like ransomware and COVID-19-themed campaigns made headlines across the globe this year, many attacks were prevented through simple practices of finding, disclosing and patching vulnerabilities. Cisco Talos’ Systems Vulnerability Research Team discovered 231 vulnerabilities this year across a wide range of products. And thanks to our vendor partners, these vulnerabilities were patched and published before any attackers could exploit them. Each vulnerability Talos addresses is an opportunity lost for attackers. Mitigating possible zero-day breeches in your defenses is the easiest and fastest way to prevent wide-ranging and business-critical cyber attacks.

Like everything else, COVID has changed the threat landscape. The global workforce shifted to a largely remote working environment and remote communication software has skyrocketed in popularity. Although there is no clear timeline on when the current pandemic will subside, fully remote and connected workforces are here to stay. This is reflected in the increased attention that Talos gave to library, web/mobile and driver vulnerabilities this year. In this post, we’ll give an overview of all of our vulnerability work from 2020 and fill you in on patches you may have missed.

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