Imagine your most sensitive communications, photos, and live location—all accessed without having ever clicked a link or opening an attachment. This is the world of zero-click exploits.

These digital attacks require no action from you: no download, no tap, no red flag. As such, they strip away the traditional phishing awareness barriers for even the most vigilant and cybersecurity-trained. 

For executives and high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs), this threat isn’t theoretical. It is active, evolving, and growing increasingly targeted. Here’s what you need to know.

What is a zero-click exploit?

A zero-click exploit, or zero-click attack, is a cyberattack that compromises your device without any interaction from you: no link to click, no file to open, no app to install. This is what makes these attacks uniquely dangerous. They don’t trick people; they exploit how your software trusts and processes data. 

In short, with a zero-click attack, there’s no phishing bait, just a digital backdoor.

How do zero-click exploits work?

A zero-click exploit is more complicated than a traditional phishing attack. They exploit the foundation of how modern phones and apps routinely accept, parse, and act on data they receive. A zero-click exploit crafts input for these devices in a way that causes memory corruption or logic bypass. 

Basically, it’s nefarious code that runs before a user even sees anything. 

Messaging, calling, and media stacks are favorite targets of zero-click exploit attackers:

  • These services must accept untrusted data from unknown senders (SMS/iMessage, voicemail, WhatsApp, linked-device sync messages), so infiltration happens automatically.
  • These services each have established protocols with subtle memory bugs known to attackers, making attacks straightforward, as long as their target uses a particular device or app.

Some real-life examples of zero-click exploits: 

The Preferred Targets: Executives & HNWIs

Zero-click exploits aren’t cheap, scalable malware—they’re bespoke weapons. Each one can cost millions to develop or acquire, requires months of engineering, and is often used only a handful of times before being burned by a patch or disclosure. 

That level of investment means attackers reserve them for the highest-value targets: executives, high-ranking officials, and ultra-wealthy individuals whose devices hold intelligence worth the expense.

Why executives and HNWI are priority targets of zero-click exploits:

  • High value, high visibility: Private communications, board memos, financial transaction data, sensitive negotiations are all extremely attractive.
  • Trust network leverage: Compromising an executive’s or HNWI’s device can open lateral access into organizations, insiders, or private equity holdings.
  • Weak home network controls: Most home network protection and email filters, including those maintained by executives, high-access employees, and HNWsI, aren’t prepared to deal with the zero-click threat model. 

Because these attacks are surgical and leave almost no forensic footprint, most victims may never realize they’ve been compromised. For those who sit at the intersection of personal wealth, corporate access, and global influence, it’s a dangerous blind spot.

Why Traditional Cybersecurity Isn’t Enough for Zero-Click Exploits

Given the stealthy, invisible nature of zero-click, standard protections fall short. To defend against zero-click, you must assume your device may already be compromised. Then, build resilience accordingly.

Important to Note: Zero-Click Exploits on iPhone / iOS

Think an iPhone is safe because of its cybersecurity reputation? Apple devices, long considered “fortress devices,” have not escaped this arms race. In fact, many of the high-profile zero-click campaigns have targeted iPhones and iOS.

Some of the common exploit vectors used in iPhone zero-click campaigns include:

  • iMessage attachments: Scammers craft malicious attachments (images, PDFs, audio files) that trigger an attack before any user opens or views them.
  • iOS media/protocol stacks: General vulnerabilities in how iOS handles images, video, audio, and streaming protocols make any iPhone a potential target.
  • AirPlay/remote services: The 2025 AirBorne exploit is proof that even trusted protocols like AirPlay can become attack vectors, especially when default settings are enabled (like “Anyone on same network”).

Zero-Click Exploit Mitigations & Defense Strategies

Given their sophistication, zero-click exploits demand a defense-in-depth posture. Here are key strategies—some reactive, some proactive:

1. Device posture & hardening

  • Enforce strict device configuration: Disable unnecessary services, refuse open network discovery, restrict AirPlay, Bluetooth, USB.
  • Ensure automatic, immediate patching: Update as soon as vendors release fixes.

2. Access control & network segmentation

  • Limit device privileges: No local administrator access, no unnecessary apps.
  • Use zero trust access: Validate device posture on each access. Zero trust has become the best way to beat modern cyberattack tactics.
  • Segment networks: Ensure a compromised mobile device doesn’t bridge into other devices and networks.

3. Continuous monitoring & anomaly detection

  • Rapid incident response / isolation: Develop a preplanned response plan. In an active compromise, remove all affected devices from connectivity. Rebuild with the help of trained cybersecurity professionals from known-clean sources.
  • Third-party protection / expert oversight: Engage providers that specialize in monitoring, threat intelligence, and rapid incident response with zero-click readiness.

BlackCloak: Zero-Click Exploit Readiness for the C-Suite and HNWIs 

Zero-click challenges the assumptions of user awareness, endpoint protection, and even threat detection as a whole. Especially for executives and high-stakes individuals, the question is no longer if a compromise may happen, but when, and how fast you can detect, contain, and recover.

If your current cybersecurity strategy still leans on click-based defenses, email filtering, or traditional strategies alone, you’re exposed in a fundamentally new way.

BlackCloak personal cybersecurity and Digital Executive Protection solutions exist for exactly this new world. If you’d like a readiness assessment, a zero-click resilience review, or just a sanity check on your security posture, contact BlackCloak today.

To learn more, you can also request a demo of the BlackCloak platform.