A first-of-its-kind hack attack hits Apple.
iPhone and iPad users are vulnerable to malware embedded in popular Chinese apps from Apple’s App Store.
WeChat – one of the most popular messaging apps in China – is among dozens of legitimate apps infected with the malicious code.
Rather than using the official release of the developer code from Apple’s U.S. servers, developers downloaded the hacked code – dubbed XcodeGhost – from a server in China because it was faster.
They unknowingly used this counterfeit code to build their apps – which then made it through the App Store’s strict review process to be released to the public.
Researchers are are still scrambling to uncover all the dangers the code poses to users.
But analysts say this successful hack puts more developers at risk for copycat attacks. (Reuters)