Apple Store suffers major cyber attack

Apple’s iOS App Store has suffered its first major cyber attack as it was shown that hackers had embedded a malicious code into its systems, urging developers to use a counterfeit version of Apple’s software when creating an iOS or Mac app. The electronics giant announced September 20 that it had started work on the process of uprooting the malicious program, after the attack was reported by a number of cyber security firms and found to be affecting hundreds of thousands of devices, mainly in China.

Hackers have recently shifted their attention onto developers, in the hope that doing so might allow them to circumvent security systems

Hackers have recently shifted their attention onto developers, in the hope that doing so might allow them to circumvent security systems and infect software by more legitimate means – in this case by way of legitimate apps. The success of the so-called XcodeGhost program could well prompt like-minded attackers to employ similar methods in the future; although Apple has said that it’s working alongside developers to ensure the same issue doesn’t reoccur.

According to Palo Alto Networks, prior to the incident only five malicious apps had found their way past Apple’s stringent app review process. The firm exposed 42 new iOS malware and reported that 225,000 iPhone accounts had been hacked. However, preliminary investigations conducted by Tencent show that “there has been no theft and leakage of users’ information or money, but the WeChat team will continue to closely monitor the situation.”

The attack is small enough that sales of Apple products are unlikely to suffer much in the way of lost sales, although the issue is a major source of embarrassment for a firm that, up until this point, has escaped the worst of a growing cyber security threat.