Security News > 2021 > February > Mysterious Silver Sparrow Malware Found Nesting on 30K Macs

Silver Sparrow has taken flight in any event: As of February 17, this fresh entry to the malware scene had already infected 29,139 macOS endpoints across 153 countries, according to researchers - primarily in Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Now, the Silver Sparrow malware family has appeared on the scene - a brand-new malware built for the Mac M1 ecosystem, researchers said.

Silver Sparrow is very likely an adware, according to researchers at Red Canary.

"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," researchers said in a posting on Thursday.

To start its installation, Silver Sparrow uses the macOS Installer JavaScript API to execute suspicious commands, the analysis found.

In all, having two different malwares - Wardle's discovery and Silver Sparrow - circulating already for what remains a limited platform is a notable development, researchers said.

News URL

https://threatpost.com/silver-sparrow-malware-30k-macs/164121/