Apple has reported that about 30,000 Mac devices with M1 chips have been affected by a mysterious malware. Researchers at security company, Red Canary said they are yet to determine the purpose of the malware attack spread out to users in 150 countries.
The malware attack appears to call a command-and-control server every hour, from an infected machine, to check for “further instructions.”
“It also has a system in place to self-destruct and hide its existence entirely.” the BBC Said.
Read: Apple Accidentally Approved Malware For MacOS Update
The researchers said the malware, a silent “Silver Sparrow’ strain “did not exhibit the behaviours that we’ve come to expect from the usual adware that so often targets macOS systems”
Apple has said it has taken steps to prevent the malware from spreading further, effectively ensuring that new devices are not infected.
“Though we haven’t observed Silver Sparrow delivering additional malicious payloads yet, its 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,” the researchers said.
Read also: Apple Unveils Macs With New M1 Processor
Lisa Forte, from Red Goat Cyber Security said the malware was an indication that Mac users were just as vulnerable to Malware attacks as Windows Users.
“The malware doesn’t appear to have done anything nasty,” she said. “But the fact it spread so fast and infected so many devices is alarming in itself.
Computer security expert Alan Woodward said the attack did not include any truly damaging elements.
“It is as if someone was trying a proof of concept of how to move harmful code on to Macs and to control it once there,” he said. \
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