Apple says it has already defeated the new M1 Mac malware
Apple has moved to suppress the threat of another new malware strain that threatens its own brand of M1 Mac silicon devices.
The malware, dubbed “Silver Sparrow” by researchers at security firm Red Canary, is said to have already infected about 30,000 Apple M1 Macs, as well as targeting some previous Intel-powered Macs.
However, Apple has now stepped in and revoked certificates for developer accounts that are used by the creator of the malware to deliver the malware packages to victims’ devices, preventing new devices from being infected.
Apple attack
The company told AppleInsider that it had taken steps to mitigate further spread of the malware by revoking these certificates, and that it is committed to providing regular software updates to prevent its devices from being infected.
Silver Sparrow was the second M1 Mac malware identified in a matter of weeks, after a previous threat was also recently discovered – although this turned out to be fairly standard adware.
Red Canary estimated that Silver Sparrow had infected about 30,000 macOS computers in more than 150 countries. It was marked as particularly new because of the way it used JavaScript to run – something the company said it hadn’t encountered in other macOS malware before.
The malware calls a command and control server every hour from the infected machine to check for further instructions. Until now, the researchers have not noticed that the malware downloads malicious payloads, adding to the mystery of the malware’s true intent.
Through: AppleInsider