Apple is now cleaning the App store to remove the malicious apps identified in the first large-scale attack on its iOS app store. Company took this serious when multiple security companies reported a malicious program XcodeGhost embedded in various legitimate apps available in app store.
To perform this mass attack, hackers convinced developers of legitimate apps to use a tainted, counterfeit version of Apple’s software for creating their iOS and Mac apps, which is known as Xcode. This way was used to embed malicious code in many legit apps. Developers downloaded tainted version of Xcode from a Chinese server because it allowed faster downloads than Apple’s U.S. servers. This was the biggest mistake developers did.
WeChat was one of those infected apps. Chinese security company Qihoo360 Technology Co confirmed to uncover 344 apps tainted with XcodeGhost. This is a huge number,
Apple confirmed that they are working to remove all the malicious apps but didn’t say how iPhone and iPad users can check if their phone has any infected app.
This malware has limited scope and there is no evidence of data theft or other harms, but this incident shows that app store can also be compromised. This approach can be used in future attacks.
Featrued image credit: crybytes.com
