A vulnerability is a flaw in software which might leave it open to a possible compromise by an intruder. Vulnerabilities exist due to unintended errors in software code, with software updates often plugging vulnerabilities which have been found. Both black hat and white hat hackers look for vulnerabilities as part of their work, with white hats disclosing them and black hats looking to take advantage of them.
Malware often looks to take advantage of vulnerabilities in order to get onto computers and execute itself.
Last updated: 3 September 2017