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What is watering hole attack?
A watering hole attack is a targeted attack designed to compromise users within a specific industry or group of users by infecting websites they typically visit and luring them to a malicious site. The end goal is to infect the users computer and gain access to the organizations network.
How does watering hole attack work?
A watering hole attack is a security exploit in which the attacker seeks to compromise a specific group of end users by infecting websites that members of the group are known to visit. The goal is to infect a targeted user’s computer and gain access to the network at the target’s workplace.
What is a watering hole in marketing?
A “watering hole” is where your prospects gather for pleasure or for work. It can be a conference, a tradeshow, a seminar, a restaurant, a bar, an hotel, or a professional association networking event.
What is a spear phishing attack?
Spear phishing is an email or electronic communications scam targeted towards a specific individual, organization or business. Although often intended to steal data for malicious purposes, cybercriminals may also intend to install malware on a targeted user’s computer.
How is watering hole attack linked to Department of Labor?
Eventually, someone from the targeted group visits the “trusted” site (A.K.A. the “Watering Hole”) and becomes compromised. Cisco identified suspicious GET requests made to the www.sellagreement.com, a malicious site which was recently linked with the Department of Labor attack.
Who is the victim of a watering hole attack?
Watering hole is a computer attack strategy, in which the victim is a particular group (organization, industry, or region). In this attack, the attacker guesses or observes which websites the group often uses and infects one or more of them with malware. Eventually, some member of the targeted group becomes infected.
When did the US Department of Labor get attacked?
In early 2013, attackers used the United States Department of Labor website to gather information on users’ information. This attack specifically targeted users visiting pages with nuclear-related content. In late 2016, a Polish bank discovered malware on computers belonging to the institution.
How are watering hole attacks different from spear phishing?
“Watering Hole” attacks, as evidenced by the recent attack involving the U.S. Department of Labor, are becoming increasingly popular as alternatives to attacks such as Spear Phishing. In a “Watering Hole” attack, the attacker compromises a site likely to be visited by a particular target group, rather than attacking the target group directly.