Watering Hole Attack

A watering hole attack employs similar techniques to a drive-by attack, but with a distinct focus on specific targets. While drive-by attacks are typically opportunistic, targeting any vulnerable host, a watering hole attack deliberately targets a particular vertical industry, organization, or entity, such as a specific company, government entity, or political party.

Imagine an attacker with the goal of infiltrating a specific financial institution. In this scenario, they might orchestrate a watering hole attack by singling out a well-known financial news portal frequently visited by employees of that institution.

Let's say the chosen website is "FinancialInsights.com" (https://financialinsights.com/), which is a reputable source for financial news and insights. This website, like many others, relies on various external resources such as JavaScript libraries, advertisements, and content delivery networks to enhance its functionality.

The attacker identifies vulnerabilities in one of the third-party resources used by FinancialInsights.com. By compromising this vulnerable resource, the attacker gains the ability to inject malicious code into the pages served by the news portal. When employees of the targeted financial institution visit FinancialInsights.com for the latest financial news, the injected code may exploit their browsers or deliver malware, ultimately providing the attacker with unauthorized access to the institution's internal systems.

This strategic watering hole attack allows the adversary to focus their efforts on a specific industry and organization, increasing the likelihood of successfully compromising their intended target.