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Watering hole attack

Watering hole attack definition

A watering hole attack is a cyberattack in which the attacker guesses or observes websites frequently used by employees of a targeted organization and infects them with malware.

Watering hole attack examples

  • In 2019, an attack dubbed The Holy Water Campaign, targeted Asian religious and charity groups — the victims were prompted to update Adobe Flash, which triggered the attack.
  • In 2016, the Canada-based International Civil Aviation Organization spread malware that infected the United Nations network.

Stopping a water hole attack

  • Never click on unknown links
  • Use an antivirus
  • Enable NordVPN’s Threat Protection Pro feature