The internet has been awash with concerns over a new malware breach affecting Apple’s App Store this week.
We now have a better idea of the scale of the breach, thanks to new information released by cybersecurity firm FireEye.
According to the company, over 4,000 apps were infected as a result of the attack.
XcodeGhost is the first time the iOS App Store has ever distributed a large number of trojanised apps.
To enable the breach, the creators of XcodeGhost tricked developers into using a modified version of Apple’s Xcode software, bypassing Apple’s stringest app approval measures.
A number of notable apps were affected, including Tencent’s WeChat app, used by 600 million people worldwide.
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At the time, Apple provided TrustedReviews with the following statement: “Apple takes security very seriously and iOS is designed to be reliable and secure from the moment you turn on your device.”
It continued: “To protect our customers, we’ve removed the apps from the App Store that we know have been created with this counterfeit software and we are working with the developers to make sure they’re using the proper version of Xcode to rebuild their apps.”
To find out more about the XcodeGhost breach, check out our FAQ right here.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.