Apple has confirmed that its apps have been compromised by the malware called XcodeGhost, which has tools that have infected hundreds of legitimate apps by the company. The malware is a tainted version of Apple's app developing software, Xcode. The Cupertino tech giant said on Sunday, Sept 20, that it is already cleaning up its app store, removing malicious software for both iPad and iPhone which have been identified in the attack.
Several security companies have reported the discovery of the malware to Apple, to which the company responded. This is the first time the company has experienced a large-scale attack targetting so many of its apps. According to CBC News, before the attack, only five apps from Apple have been found to be malicious. The findings have been reported by the Palo Alto cybersecurity firm.
Most of the impacted apps have been discovered to be in the Chinese market. Qihoo360 Technology Co, a Chinese security firm, said it has uncovered 344 apps infected with the malware. Apps such as WeChat and Didi Kuaidi have been found to have the XcodeGhost. Tencent, the maker of WeChat, said that the newer versions of the app have not been affected by the malware. Didi Kuaidi also indicated in an email that customer privacy has not been intruded upon.
The company is taking measures to ensure that developers are using the legitimate Xcode software. "We've removed the apps from the App Store that we know have been created with this counterfeit software," Apple spokeswoman Christine Monaghan said. She added that the company is working with developers to make sure they are not using the counterfeit software.
Monaghan has not indicated what iPhone and iPad users can do to ensure the safety of their apps. Although the Palo Alto security firm says that the malware has limited functionality, the scale of the attack is still a big issue that has to be addressed and prevented from happening in the future. Apple has not disclosed the total number of infected apps.
