Exploits Explained

How universal exploit prevention provides a durable defense against human- and AI-generated attacks.

Frontier AI is making it faster and easier to discover vulnerabilities and turn them into working exploits. But no matter how an exploit is created, it must still rely on a limited number of techniques to run code, evade defenses, steal credentials, gain privileges, and ultimately compromise a device.

This whitepaper explains why blocking these underlying techniques offers a more scalable defense and how Sophos Endpoint delivers universal exploit prevention with 60+ exploit mitigations, on by default, with no tuning or signatures required.

What’s inside

• AI-powered exploits: How Frontier AI is accelerating exploit development.
• Thinking beyond patching: Why additional protection is needed while vulnerabilities remain unpatched.
• Windows coverage gaps: Where built-in Windows defenses fall short.
• Universal exploit prevention: How Sophos Endpoint blocks the core exploit techniques.
• Vendor evaluation criteria: Four questions to ask when assessing exploit protection.