Another new M1 Mac malware has infected thousands of devices

Researchers can’t deduce the true intentions of the malware

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Researchers have discovered another malware that runs natively on the newApple M1 Macsilicon, and this one seems to be a lot more sinister.

While thefirst M1 malwarewas a standard adware, security researchers can’t figure out the intentions of this new evolution, which also targets earlierIntel-powered Macstoo.

“Our investigation almost immediately revealed that this malware, whatever it was, did not exhibit the behaviors that we’ve come to expect from the usual adware that so often targetsmacOS systems,” noted Tony Lambert, Intelligence Analyst, at the Red Canary security firm in itsposton the threat.

Unclear intentions

Dubbed Silver Sparrow, Lambert shares the malware has already infected about 30,000 macOS computers in over 150 countries.

Collating data about the malware from other security researchers fromMalwarebytesand VMware Carbon Black, Lambert soon realized that they were dealing with a novel strain of malware.

“The novelty of thisdownloaderarises primarily from the way it usesJavaScriptfor execution—something we hadn’t previously encountered in other macOS malware,” shares Lambert.

In his analysis he notes that the malware calls a command and control server every hour from the infected machine to check for further instructions. Till now the researchers haven’t noticed the malware downloading any malicious payloads, which adds to the mystery of the malware’s true intent.

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“Though we haven’t observed Silver Sparrow delivering additional malicious payloads yet, its forward-looking M1 chip compatibility, global reach, relatively high infection rate, and operational maturity suggest Silver Sparrow is a reasonably serious threat, uniquely positioned to deliver a potentially impactful payload at a moment’s notice,” reasons Lambert.

Via:ZDNet

With almost two decades of writing and reporting on Linux, Mayank Sharma would like everyone to think he’sTechRadar Pro’sexpert on the topic. Of course, he’s just as interested in other computing topics, particularly cybersecurity, cloud, containers, and coding.

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