iPhone and iPad users at risk of latest malicious codes

Hundreds and millions of iPhone and iPad users at risk of malicious code

Apple store has been hit by its first major hack and hundreds and millions of iPhone and iPad users are reported to be at risk. The malicious code is found in some of China’s most popular Apps. Apparently, hackers convinced legitimate app developers to use fake Apple software. They were then able to embed malicious codes on popular Chinese apps. Messaging app WeChat, taxi app Didi Kuaidi and a music app were all hit and Apple says it has started removing the infected iPhone and iPad programs. The clean-up came after several cyber security firms reported finding a malicious program dubbed XcodeGhost embedded in hundreds of legitimate apps.

WeChat is one of the infected Apps

It is the first reported case of large numbers of malicious software programs making their way past Apple's stringent app review process. Prior to this attack, only five malicious apps had ever been found in the App Store, according to cyber security firm Palo Alto Networks Inc
'We've removed the apps from the App Store that we know have been created with this counterfeit software,' Apple spokeswoman Christine Monaghan said in an email. 'We are working with the developers to make sure they're using the proper version of Xcode to rebuild their apps.'
She did not say what steps iPhone and iPad users could take to determine whether their devices were infected.
Palo Alto Networks Director of Threat Intelligence Ryan Olson said the malware had limited functionality and his firm had uncovered no examples of data theft or other harm as a result of the attack.
Still, he said it was 'a pretty big deal' because it showed that the App Store could be compromised if hackers infected machines of software developers writing legitimate apps. Other attackers may copy that approach, which is hard to defend against, he said.
The tainted version of Xcode was downloaded from a server in China that developers may have used because it allowed for faster downloads than using Apple's U.S. servers, Olson said.
Chinese security firm Qihoo360 Technology Co said on its blog that it had uncovered 344 apps tainted with XcodeGhost.
Tencent said on its official WeChat blog that the security flaw affects WeChat 6.2.5, an old version of its popular chatting app, and that newer versions were unaffected. A preliminary investigation showed there had been no data theft or leakage of user information, the company said.
Didi Kuaidi said in an emailed statement users' privacy was not intruded upon, and the app has been immediately updated to address the issue.
In a mea culpa on its official Weibo microblog, NetEase apologized to users, saying their private information was not compromised and a fix has been issued.
Apple declined to say how many apps it had uncovered.

Source: DailyMail