Five best practices for mitigating zero-day threats like Windows ANI

The Windows animation bug (ANI) caused widespread concern because exploits against it became widely available before Microsoft Corp. could release a patch. But like other zero-day threats before it, there are measures companies can take to at least try to mitigate the risk from unpatched vulnerabilities, security experts said.

The measures are not a sure bet. And in the end, patching a flaw is still the most reliable way of protecting against exploits seeking to take advantage of it, they said. But deploying multiple layers of defenses is vital to dealing with threats for which no immediate fix is available.