This certainly came as a big blow for Apple as well as Apple aficionados when it came into attention that iPhone and iPad apps are hit by malicious programs. It’s best known that Apple has enjoyed the status of being the most secure and error free till now, however, looking at the recent case of malware injected malicious programs passing the Apple review process has shocked the company. As per the cyber security firms, before this only 5 cases of malicious apps were ever found in the App store.
Ever since the whole of this mess begin, Apple Inc APPL.0, which is a secure and popular software outlet, has been making constant efforts to identify and remove the infected iPhone and iPad programs. It was only recently that the news was divulged by the company that they have identified a malicious malware called as XcodeGhost embedded in the hundred of the authorized apps and they are now involved in the process of clearing it up. Hearsay is that the hackers succeeded in embedding these codes by convincing the developers of legitimate software with the use if a counterfeit version of Apple software for the iOS and Mac Apps creation, and as per Apple, this version is known as Xcode.
Meanwhile, the breather comes as the Apple spokesman stated that they have removed the apps that were found embedded with the malicious code, from the iTunes store. With the same, they ensured that now onwards, these app developers will rebuild the apps using proper and legitimate version of the Xcode. Meanwhile, they have steered clear of making an announcement in regard of the steps to be taken by them to confirm whether their devices are infected or not.
Another breather comes from the Threat Intelligence, who has confirmed that these malwares have restricted functionality and it has no data related to theft or any other harmful effects of the attacks known. Nevertheless, despite the stringent process of Apple reviews, it’s still not known whether Apple store can make a compromise with hacking codes. Due to the same there is scope for other attackers to copy this approach and try to do the same things in the future and that will certainly be immensely tough to defend.
The convincing approach used by the hackers in order to dupe the developers was the bad version or fake version of Apple’s Xcode application development tool, known as XcodeGhost. What came as a surprise was that most of the apps were to target Chinese market, including big name WeChat. Apple has now assured to continue working with the developers by offering them with a legit version of the app development tool. The reason behind using the duplicate server could be the slow speed of Apple Servers in China.
Among the infected apps are Tencent Holdings Ltd’s renowned mobile chat app WeChat, car-hailing app Didi Kuaidi and a music app from Internet portal NetEase Inc. However, now with the massive cleanup of its App store, Apple Inc has ensured to provide secure platform to its customers.
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