Apple has been hit by Malware in China. The U.S. technology giant took steps to remove a number of iOs apps in its App Store that has infected iPhones and iPads user in the Asian country.
This attack by Malware was the first on Apple. Hackers were able to embed a wicked code into the apps by enticing developers to apply a counterfeit version of Apple's own software. This malicious program called "XcodeGhost" allowed hackers to gather information from devices.
BBC reported the infected apps by Malware on Apple included Tencent's massively popular mobile app, WeChat, an Uber-like car hailing app, Didi Kuaidi and a music downloading app from Internet portal NetEase Inc., widely used by Apple's iPhone and iPad consumers in China.
A spokeswoman from Apple, Christine Monaghan, said in a statement sent via email, "We've removed the apps from the App Store that we know have been created with this counterfeit software. We are working with the developers to make sure they're using the proper version of Xcode to rebuild their apps."
Monaghan did not divulge what steps were taken by Apple's iPad and iPhone users in order to find out whether their devices were compromised by the Malware attack.
Ryan Olson, Palo Alto Networks Director of Threat Intelligence disclosed that Malware had restrained functionality and his company had stripped no citations of data theft or other danger as an effect of the attack on Apple. Nevertheless, it was "a pretty big deal" according to Olson, for the reason that it displayed the App Store's vulnerability from hackers. Other attackers might take a hint from Malware and try to infect machines of software builders, which would be difficult to guard against, as per Huffington Post.
Additionally, the Malware that hit Apple could possibly prompt users to submit passwords and then swipe them, grab information off an iPhone or iPad user's clipboard and steal certain URLs that a user tried to open.
Mashable has learned that Malware was able to trick app developers because the 3.59GB Xcode from Apple, which is a large and complex program, takes a long time to download. Chinese developers may have chosen to download Xcode's malicious version because of its faster download speed in China.
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