As per Avast, which owns CCleaner, only about 23 total devices were infected by the exploit. This is especially important with third-party traffic and should be a standard approach to internet traffic, regardless of whether it has come from partner websites or popular internet properties like Google domains. If it belonged to an employee in a telecom company, another malware was downloaded that allowed hackers to take over the computer. Once the virus is downloaded onto the target device, the hacker can access the personal and sensitive information of the targets and even the organization. In these attacks, its not always necessary for the victim to interact with the website or click a link. These targeted attacks often rely on social engineering techniques, such as sending emails impersonating trusted brands or organizations. The attacks from January against Polish institutions where a booby-trapped site of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority was used were just the beginning of a series of unfortunate events. It's important to keep your computer secure. Interestingly, the first sample was not logged in VirusTotal prior to our submission, despite the sample having been in use in the wild for at least seven months. Cyber Readiness Center and Breaking Threat Intelligence:Click here to get the latest recommendations and Threat Research, Expand and grow by providing the right mix of adaptive and cost-effective security services. Watering hole attacks exploit vulnerabilities in your software to infiltrate your devices. Hacks looking for specific information may only attack users coming from a specific IP address.This also makes the hacks harder to detect and research. The malware connected to private Slack channels to lure victims, which required sophisticated hacking techniques. A watering hole attack is not something new, but its frequency has increased in recent days and Forbes has listed watering hole attacks among the top security threats of 2022 with ransomware, phishing, and various other malicious attacks. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. . Consider installing antivirussoftware on your devices to flag cyber threats. For a cybercriminal to successfullypull off a watering hole attack, it requires quite a bit of planning: Watering hole attacks can beconsidered a combination of hacking techniques. The tips weve highlighted above should help you detect, remove, and protect against potential watering hole attacks. The attack exploited known vulnerabilities in WinRAR and Rich Text Format (RTF) files, which used various techniques, tools, and backdoor functionalities to target victims. The term watering hole refers to places, often bodies of water, where animals tend to congregate. "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. The second stage was triggered if the IP was traced to either of these countries. Buccaneers (And All NFL Week 9 Games), If youre a large organization and the scale of the attack is large, you may want to, Identification of the target website or application, Analysis of the website or applications vulnerabilities, Infection of the website/application with a malicious payload, Luring of the targets to infected website/application using fake but realistic emails, Downloading and installation of the payload on the users device, Increase in frequency of emails directing users to a particular website/applications, Numerous and frequent pop-ups on the infected device, Unauthorized changes to security settings on your browser or device. A watering hole attack is a technique hackers used to compromise a specific group of end-users by infecting existing websites or creating a new one that would attract them. Some watering hole attacks will see a cyber criminal deliver and install malware without the victim realizing it, commonly known as a drive-by attack. The Meterpreter payload masquerades as a copy of the ApacheBench tool made by the Apache Software Foundation. This watering hole definition takes its name from animal predators that lurk by watering holes waiting for an opportunity to attack prey when their guard is down. One of its distributions was infected with a trojan that the site unwittingly spread to 2.27 million users. This file is also a Poison Ivy variant. Utilizing web filters - Filters detect malware in . Visithttps://www.arrayasolutions.com/contact-us/to connect with our team now. The term "watering hole attack" refers to predators in nature that lurk near watering holes in the hope of attacking a prey nearby. What are the key ways to identify watering hole attacks? The Fortinet cybersecurity suite helps organizations prevent advanced attacks and cyber espionage, avoid the risk of software vulnerabilities, and block sophisticated malware. And the more youre aware ofthese, the more likely youll be able to keep an eye out for them in thefuture. The term watering hole attack is drawn from nature. The best way to protect your business is to stay current on the latest cyber threats. These are used to distribute malware onto the target's devices, just like phishing activities are conducted. Get the latest technology tips, news, and special offers sent directly to your inbox. Once the infected CCleaner was downloaded onto a users device, it sent back information about who the device belonged to. The first stage checked the users IP to determine if they were from Cambodia or Vietnam. Watering hole attacks offer a much better chance of success because they involve compromising legitimate websites and installing malware . There is no way for people browsing to these websites to know in advance the normally trusted website has been compromised and will serve them malware when they visit it. Usually, attackers inject malicious code, usually a remote access trojan (RAT), into the websites script. Microsoft and the Window logo are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. So, here is how a watering hole attack works: Step 1: The hackers profile the users they are targeting based on their industry, job title, organization, etc. Even though watering hole attacksarent the most common of cyberattacks, theyre no less destructive. Picture: Watering Hole Attack. Given the sheer number of threats online today, its advisable to adopt a cautious approach especially regarding suspicious emails, messages, and pop-ups. Based on historical IP resolution overlaps between the above C2 domains and other domains that have also resolved to the same IPs, we found an additional sample from the beginning of this year. One way to protect your company from watering hole attacks is to prevent them from being launched in the first place. Copyright 2022 NortonLifeLock Inc. All rights reserved. Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko says latest attacks 'one of the most massive shellings' of war so far : A ripe crew of wrong'uns hole up in a bar to.. Always try to download software updates from the official websites and update systems from time to time. Likewise, watering hole attackers lurk on niche websites waiting for a chance to infect websites, and in turn, infect their victims withmalware. Read on for a better understanding of watering hole attacks, how they work, and how they can be prevented. Follow these tips forwatering hole attack prevention to keep you and your information safe andsecure. Instead, it refers to the hackers strategy to infect the target users devices. Fortinet provides comprehensive protection against advanced attacks and cyber espionage techniques through threat intelligence fromFortiGuard Labs, supporting solutions likeemail security,web application security, andFortiClient endpoint protection. To learn more about protecting your business, contact our Cyber Team today. Name * Email . https://www.arrayasolutions.com/contact-us/, How to Leverage Microsofts Low-Code Tools You Probably Already Have, 5 Ways to Save in 5 Minutes: Licensing Rationalization, How to Build a Proactive Security Practicein 5 Steps, Microsoft Ignite 2022 Round-Up: Heres What You Missed, Cloud Computing Too Complex? ba509a1d752f3165dc2821e0b1c6543c15988fd7abd4e56c6155de09d1640ce9, 9d149baceaaff2a67161fec9b8978abc22f0a73a1c8ce87edf6e2fb673ac7374, www.aanon.com .tw/flash/diff.exewww.npec.com .tw/flash/diff.exeuyghurweb .net/player/gmuweb.exe, ccfe61a28f35161c19340541dfd839075e31cd3b661f0936a4c667d805a65136, 7f39e5b9d46386dd8142ef40ae526343274bdd5f27e38c07b457d290a277e807, e3d02e5f69d3c2092657d64c39aa0aea2a16ce804a47f3b5cf44774cde3166fe, 140.112.158 .132/phpmyadmin/test/AppletLow.jar, An East Asian office for a major US based computer manufacturer, An international wholesale and retail telecom provider, Another international wholesale and retail telecom provider, A major visual computing company headquartered in the US, A state-owned East Asian financial services company. Read ourprivacy policy. With the pace in which these evolve, this is no easy feat. Learn more about some major threats on the internet in the following articles: Have any questions about watering hole attacks that remain unanswered? Most of us are familiar with the common cyber attacks that are launched every day. It was only by accessing his account online.. Watering hole attacks often exploit security gaps and vulnerabilities to infiltrate computers and networks. One of the most sophisticated Watering Hole attacks was recently discovered by the security team at Google Project Zero. January 25, 2022. Trending. Now that you know what a watering hole attack is, it's important to know how to avoid one. Afterall, its easier to hack a bunch of devices at once, rather than attacking themone by one. There's no denying that watering-hole attacks are making an impact, but the idea that it is replacing spear phishing is erroneous. How watering hole attacks work The term "watering hole" colloquially refers to a social gathering place [] The file was named PYvBte.jar but was actually a Windows executable. There have a been several large-scale cyber attacks highlighted in the news recently. You can significantly reduce the risk of an attack by regularly updating all of your software and browsers. According to the UK's National Cyber Security Centre, watering hole attacks often trick victims into downloading a remote access Trojan, which, in turn, gives them access to the compromised device. In 2018, it carried out a large-scale watering hole attack aimed primarily at the Vietnam government. Of note, only the older of the samples we cover in this blog used that password. 01:26 PM. A watering hole attack is a form of cyberattack that targets groups of users by infecting websites that they commonly visit. Palo Alto Networks users should use our firewalls ability to block executable downloads unless the user specifically authorizes it. They were downloaded from one of the download URLs in the below table, but all had the same MD5 and C2 domain. Arraya delivers the tools, talent, and technological expertise companies need to rise to the top of their field. A crocodile will lurk below the surface of a watering hole where they know their prey will gather to drink and then attack when their prey is least expecting it. Read our review of Norton 360 to learn more, or visit its website through the button below. The above steps should help limit the damage a watering hole attack can cause. CCleaner is a widely used utility tool that cleans up your devices memory. Black Lotus Labs released information on watering hole attacks that occurred in 2019 and 2020 on several Ukrainian websites, as well as a Canadian website. This ensures that users always browse the internet securely, prevents intentional and unintentional downloads of malware or. Please do note that most of the steps listed below cater to organizations, as they are the primary victims of watering hole attacks. A water holing attack involves a strategic attack on places or sites frequented by a target group.Therefore, watering hole attacks are typically used to attack sites, organizations, groups, and enterprises. Watering hole attacks are on the rise, but many businesses are still unprepared against it. This 2013 water hole attack targeted Microsoft, Apple, and Facebook developers by using a fake iPhone SDK development website. A water holing attack involves a strategic attack on places or sites frequented by a target group. While it may not be possible to avoid watering hole attacks entirely, the following steps should decrease their likelihood significantly. Recent Watering Hole Attacks Attributed to APT Group "th3bug" Using Poison Ivy. The result can be not only frustrating but can also put your deviceand personaldataat risk. The hacker uses search trends, social media, and similar data to identify such websites. Popular Resources. In that case, you must run an antivirus scan at the earliest to ascertain whether youve fallen prey to a watering hole attack or another exploit. Watering hole attacks are still wreaking havoc on targeted groups and institutions around the globe. However, there are a couple of telltale signs you and your organization should look out for: Suppose youre experiencing some of the above signs. Our top recommendation is Norton 360, which consistently outperforms the dozen other antivirus programs weve tested. Also of note, the IP resolution for this C2 domain was changed to match the IP resolution of the C2 domains used in the July activity only a few days after these samples were seen. How watering hole attacks work The term "watering hole" colloquially refers to a [] Watering hole attacks are not frequent but are still dangerous because they are hard to detect and can quickly infect large organizations.Read on for a better understanding of watering hole . You can significantly reduce the risk of an attack by regularly updating all of your software and browsers. Download from a wide range of educational material and documents. The name is just like the type of attack youd seen in the animal kingdom. On July 16WildFire picked up a malicious executable hosted on uyghurweb.net, a legitimate Uyghur website that was compromised to infect users. The Zero Trust methodology can . They can gain access to the victims information, infiltrate other devices on the network or include the victims device in their botnet. A user who has the misfortune of visiting any of these compromised sites will then have their device automatically loaded with malware. . Additionally, the files PE timestamp was January 21, the day before we detected the sample. Developers are often the targets of watering hole attacks as they have access to a companys internal networks. The download can be triggered automatically, without the victim knowing, in what is known as a drive-by download. In other cases, the victim is presented with a pop-up or advertisement redirecting them to a malicious website or program. Attackers infect websites by discovering vulnerabilities in their code, making it imperative to spot flaws or gaps in software before cyber criminals find them. The Fortinet FortiGatenext-generation firewalls(NGFWs) filter and monitor network traffic to protect businesses from external and internal threats. Our objective is to fully understand your business and provide customized solutions and servicetailored to your needs. Recent Attacks. Hence, watering hole attacks are a part of social engineering. However, amid all the ransomware and phishing reports, many business owners may not be familiar with the recent uptick in watering hole attacks. To avoid falling victim to a watering hole attack, it is crucial to know what it is, understand the risks, and take steps to defend your business. Watering hole attacks have become more common in recent years and pose a serious threat to organizations everywhere. 1. Watering hole attacks often exploit security gaps and vulnerabilities to infiltrate computers and networks. How watering hole attacks work The term "watering hole" colloquially refers to a social gathering place [] All of the malware were variants of the Poison Ivy Remote Administration Tool (RAT) and were properly identified as such by our WildFire platform. They will often infect a website by injecting it with malicious Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) or JavaScript code, which redirects victims to a particular, most likely spoofed website that hosts the attackers malware. Through an extensive offering of IT solutions, advisory, consulting, staffing, and managed services, we empower our customers to achieve impactful outcomes. This is why were breaking down exactlywhat a watering hole attack is and tips for how to avoid watering hole attacksfrom the start. Resource Center; Blog; Communities; When this file runs, it downloads a payload from uyghurweb.net/player/gmuweb.exe and executes it. Once the attacker has identified the target website, they will analyze it to identify weak spots. The goal is to infect a targeted user's computer and gain access to the network at the target's place of employment. This sample had an interesting PDB string - C: \Users\sophie\documents\visual studio 2010\Projects\init\Release\init.pdb with a time date string that exactly matched the PE timestamp of 11 July, 2014. Protect yourself from watering hole attacks by doing the following: Update your software. https://vpnoverview.com/internet-safety/cybercrime/watering-hole-attack/, How to Avoid NFT Scams: The Safety and Risks of NFTs in 2022, How to Recognize and Prevent CEO Fraud in 2022. What is a Brute Force Attack and How Can You Prevent It? In some cases, watering hole attackers may also exploit zero-day vulnerabilities in the website to insert malware. "A Chinese advanced persistent threat compromised Forbes.com to set up a watering hole style web-based drive-by attack against US defense and . , isolated environments that analyze interactions and discover any malicious intent detect and research from us correlate Poison ; s devices, only about 23 total devices were infected with malware to their Protect against potential watering hole attack, the simplest tasks can slip our minds know A variety of objectives triggered the download URLs in the URL fake iPhone SDK development website the tasks. 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