Cryptominers use system resources (potentially to the point of system failure) to mine cryptocurrency. Ransomware operates by encrypting stored data and/or locking the device's screen for ransom purposes. Furthermore, malware can have varied abilities in different combinations.įor example, trojans can: function as backdoors, allow remote access and control over the infected machine, download content stored on the system, extract content/information from browsers and other installed applications, spy on users (e.g., monitor keystrokes, record/live-stream video and audio, take screenshots, etc.), and so on.

Malware capable of causing chain infections (i.e., has backdoor functionalities) can infect devices with a wide variety of malicious programs. This increases Silver Sparrow's chances of proliferation, as Amazon AWS offers suitable conditions for it (e.g., resilient file distribution and content delivery, etc.). It is noteworthy that this malware uses Amazon AWS - a legitimate service provided by Amazon Inc. Additionally, some aspects of Silver Sparrow make its code easily modifiable, which makes it a versatile threat. Likewise, it is unclear what potential damage the malware can cause. Therefore, the specific goals of cyber criminals' behind Silver Sparrow are unknown. However, at the time of research, it has not been observed injecting compromised devices with any payloads. As mentioned in the introduction, this piece of malicious software is intended to infect systems with other malware. The latter is quite new, and as such - targeted relatively less. One variant of Silver Sparrow is designed for Intel x86_64 system architecture, the other for both the previously mentioned architecture, as well as M1 ARM64. In other words, its goal is to infect devices with additional malware. This malware is designed to operate as a backdoor for malicious payloads.

Silver Sparrow's activity has been observed in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, and Germany.

There are two versions of this malware, the key difference being the targeted OS architecture. Silver Sparrow is the name of a malicious program targeting Mac OS operating systems.

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