It may have taken some time, but 5G is slowly starting to build momentum in the US. All major carriers now have nationwide 5G deployments covering at least 200 million people, with T-Mobile in the lead covering over 270 million people with its low-band network at the end of 2020. Verizon ended the year with a low-band network that covered 230 million, while AT&T's version reached 225 million. Next-generation networks from all the major carriers are set to continue to expand in the coming months, laying the foundation for advancements such as replacing home broadband, remote surgery, and self-driving cars that are expected to dominate the next decade. But with all that activity by competing carriers, there are myriad different names for 5G -- some of which aren't actually 5G. The carriers have had a history of twisting their stories when it comes to wireless technology. When 4G was just coming around, AT&T and T-Mobile opted to rebrand their 3G networks to take advantage of the hype. Ultimately the industry settled on 4G LTE. One technology, one name. Differing technologies and approaches for presenting 5G, however, have made this upcoming revolution more confusing than it should be. Here's a guide to help make sense of it all. When it comes to 5G networks, there are three different versions that you should know about. While all are accepted as 5G -- and Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile have pledged to use multiple flavors going forward for more robust networks -- each will give you different experiences. The first flavor is known as millimeter-wave (or mmWave). This technology has been deployed over the course of the last two years by Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile, though it's most notable for being the 5G network Verizon has touted across the country. Using a much higher frequency than prior cellular networks, millimeter-wave allows for a blazing-fast connection that in some cases reaches well over 1Gbps. The downside? That higher frequency struggles when covering distances and penetrating buildings, glass, or even leaves. It also has had some issues with heat. Low-band 5G is the foundation for all three providers' nationwide 5G offerings. While at times a bit faster than 4G LTE, these networks don't offer the same crazy speeds that higher-frequency technologies like millimeter-wave can provide. The good news, however, is that this network functions similarly to 4G networks in terms of coverage, allowing it to blanket large areas with service. It should also work fine indoors. In between the two, mid-band is the middle area of 5G: faster than the low band, but with more coverage than millimeter wave. This was the technology behind Sprint's early 5G rollout and one of the key reasons T-Mobile worked so hard to purchase the struggling carrier.  The company has worked diligently since closing the deal, quickly deploying its mid-band network across the United States. The company now covers over 100 million people with the faster service, with a goal of reaching 200 million people before the end of 2021. T-Mobile has said that it expects average download speeds over the mid-band network to be between 300 to 400Mbps, with peak speeds of 1Gbps. While T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon have plenty of low-band spectrum, mid-band has previously been used by the military, making it a scarce resource despite its cellular benefits. Thankfully even with the name change in marketing and ads, the icons on phones and devices will remain the same. "Our customers will see a simple 5G icon when connecting to the next-generation wireless network, regardless of which spectrum they're using," said a T-Mobile spokesman. Complete details can be found on OUR FORUM.

A previously undetected piece of malware found on almost 30,000 Macs worldwide is generating intrigue in security circles, and security researchers are still trying to understand precisely what it does and what purpose its self-destruct capability serves. Once an hour, infected Macs check a control server to see if there are any new commands the malware should run or binaries to execute. So far, however, researchers have yet to observe the delivery of any payload on any of the infected 30,000 machines, leaving the malware’s ultimate goal unknown. The lack of a final payload suggests that the malware may spring into action once an unknown condition is met. Also curious, the malware comes with a mechanism to completely remove itself, a capability that’s typically reserved for high-stealth operations. So far, though, there are no signs the self-destruct feature has been used, raising the question of why the mechanism exists. Besides those questions, the malware is notable for a version that runs natively on the M1 chip that Apple introduced in November, making it only the second known piece of macOS malware to do so. The malicious binary is more mysterious still because it uses the macOS Installer JavaScript API to execute commands. That makes it hard to analyze installation package contents or the way that the package uses the JavaScript commands. The malware has been found in 153 countries with detections concentrated in the US, UK, Canada, France, and Germany. Its use of Amazon Web Services and the Akamai content delivery network ensures the command infrastructure works reliably and also makes blocking the servers harder. Researchers from Red Canary, the security firm that discovered the malware, are calling the malware Silver Sparrow. “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,” Red Canary researchers wrote in a blog post published on Friday. “Given these causes for concern, in the spirit of transparency, we wanted to share everything we know with the broader infosec industry sooner rather than later.” Silver Sparrow comes in two versions—one with a binary in mach-object format compiled for Intel x86_64 processors and the other Mach-O binary for the M1. So far, researchers haven’t seen either binary do much of anything, prompting the researchers to refer to them as “bystander binaries.” Curiously, when executed, the x86_64 binary displays the words “Hello World!” while the M1 binary reads “You did it!” The researchers suspect the files are placeholders to give the installer something to distribute content outside the JavaScript execution. Apple has revoked the developer certificate for both bystander binary files. Silver Sparrow is only the second piece of malware to contain code that runs natively on Apple’s new M1 chip. An adware sample reported earlier this week was the first. Native M1 code runs with greater speed and reliability on the new platform than x86_64 code does because the former doesn’t have to be translated before being executed. Many developers of legitimate macOS apps still haven’t completed the process of recompiling their code for the M1. Silver Sparrow’s M1 version suggests its developers are ahead of the curve. Once installed, Silver Sparrow searches for the URL the installer package was downloaded from, most likely so the malware operators will know which distribution channels are most successful. In that regard, Silver Sparrow resembles previously seen macOS adware. It remains unclear precisely how or where the malware is being distributed or how it gets installed. The URL check, though, suggests that malicious search results may be at least one distribution channel, in which case, the installers would likely pose as legitimate apps. For more turn to OUR FORUM.