‘XcodeGhost’ Malware Infected Around 128M iOS Users

In a recent malware attack over 128 million iOS customers have been targeted. The malware employed by the attackers goes by the name “XcodeGhost” which first came into the public domain in 2015. This attack is responsible for injecting malware into several Apple devices’ app stores including iPhone and iPad apps that were subsequently uploaded to the App Store. 

During the Epic Games vs Apple trial, the internal Apple emails have warned that almost 128 million users downloaded approximately 2,500 apps that were infected by the malware which came into existence from the fake copy of Xcode. 

While Motherboard has also reported on the same issue saying over 2,500 infected apps have been downloaded over 203 million times in the App Store. 

Some employer has disclosed that around 55 percent users are Chinese and also 66 percent of downloads relates to China. According to the report, many developers have downloaded the infected Xcode as Apple’s servers were slow, hence they were looking for alternative download links. 

Notably, some of the widely popular apps have also been infected by this malware, including the game ‘Angry Birds 2′. 

When the malware was identified, Apple suggested developers immediately revise their apps with a legal version of Xcode, the report added. 

In the wake of the security incident, Apple has taken several security measures to fix the attack including malware scanning and the security of the Xcode execution process while submitting apps to the App Store. As the legal battle was going on between Apple and Epic Games in the USA this week, new technical details have surfaced, disclosing that Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney had suggested Apple CEO Tim Cook open their devices to other app stores as early as 2015.