Security Researchers Warn Of Widespread Mac Malware Called Silver Sparrow

For a long time, there was a thought by many fans of the Mac computer that they were essentially invulnerable to malware and viruses. This has proven false in recent years, and security researchers have now spotted a new malware specifically targeting Mac computers. The stealthy malware has already infected nearly 30,000 systems and is called Silver Sparrow.

Security researchers from Red Canary first discovered and named Silver Sparrow working in conjunction with other security researchers from Malwarebytes and VMWare Carbon Black. Researchers say that Silver Sparrow has infected 29,139 macOS endpoints in 153 countries as of February 17.

High volumes of infections had been discovered in the US, UK, Canada, France, and Germany. Even though the malware is widespread, details about its distribution and how it infected users is unclear. Researchers aren’t sure if the malware was hidden inside malicious ads, pirated apps, or fake flash updaters.

Once Silver Sparrow infects the system, the malware waits for new commands from operators, and no commands arrived during the time it was being analyzed. The researchers warned that the malware might be used to deliver second-stage payloads to infected systems.