Apple, Macs targeted in large hacking attack

Apple Inc. was recently attacked by hackers who infected the Macintosh computers of some employees, the company said Tuesday, reporting the widest known cyber attacks against Apple-made computers to date.

Unknown hackers infected some employees' computers when they visited a website for software developers that had been infected with malicious software. The malware had been designed to attack Mac computers, the company said in a statement provided to Reuters.

The same software, which infected Macs by exploiting a flaw in a version of Oracle Corp.'s Java software used as a plug-in on Web browsers, was used to launch attacks against Facebook, which the social network disclosed on Friday.

The malware was also employed in attacks against Macs used by "other companies," Apple said, without elaborating on the scale of the assault.

A person briefed on the investigation said hundreds of companies, including military contractors, had been infected with the same malicious software, or malware.

The attacks are the highest-profile cyber assaults to date on businesses running Mac computers. Hackers usually go after machines running the Windows operating system. But they have gradually turned their attention to Apple products over the past couple of years as the company gained market share over Microsoft Corp.

In a statement, Apple said, "There is no evidence that any data left Apple." The company said it was working closely with law enforcement to find the culprits.

Apple also said it planned to release a piece of software to identify and repair Macs infected with the malware used in the attacks. -- Reuters