Apple says Hackers Have Attacked a “Small Number” of its Computers but no Data was Compromised


By: Ali Raza  |   February 20th, 2013   |   Apple, iOS, News

After Twitter and Facebook California-based tech giant Apple has become another high-profile firm that has been hit by hackers. The Verge has stated that hackers have made an attack on some Apple’s computers and as a result of this cyber attack a “small number” of Apple’s computers have been infected. According to the report the hackers made use of a Java vulnerability. Initially Reuters reported that the Cupertino-based company said “there was no evidence that any data left Apple,” and zero information of its users has been compromised. However, the interesting thing Apple described about the cyber attack was that the hackers used the same malware to breach the security, which was earlier utilized to hack Facebook and other sites.

 

Here is the complete statement of Apple that it sent to The Verge:

 

“Apple has identified malware which infected a limited number of Mac systems through a vulnerability in the Java plug-in for browsers. The malware was employed in an attack against Apple and other companies, and was spread through a website for software developers. We identified a small number of systems within Apple that were infected and isolated them from our network. There is no evidence that any data left Apple. We are working closely with law enforcement to find the source of the malware.

 

Since OS X Lion, Macs have shipped without Java installed, and as an added security measure OS X automatically disables Java if it has been unused for 35 days. To protect Mac users that have installed Java, today we are releasing an updated Java malware removal tool that will check Mac systems and remove this malware if found.”

 

Although, Apple is a tech giant and this attack did not cause them much damage, the situation is very unusual for the company. The iOS device maker has said that it is working with the police to hunt down the culprits who have hacked into their system. Moreover, the late Steve Job’s company was also planning to launch a software tool on Tuesday, February 19th in order to guard its customers against the malware hackers used to attack it and Facebook.

 

With this attack, Apple has become one of the companies that have been the target of cyber attacks in recent times. Apart from Facebook this list of companies includes Twitter, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and American government agencies and publications. Facebook faced this issue when some of its “employees visited a compromised mobile developer website,” according to The Verge and that resulted in the “sophisticated attack.”

 

Source: TheVerge

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