Hackers take a bite out of Apple

The maker of iPhones, iPads, iPods, and Macintosh computers said it is working with law enforcement officials to hunt down the hackers, who appeared tied to a series of recent cyber attacks on US technology firms.

Hacked! The tech giant said that the company's headquarters had been hacked but no data had been stolen. File Pic

"The malware was employed in an attack against Apple and other companies, and was spread through a website for software developers," Apple said.

"We identified a small number of systems within Apple that were infected and isolated them from our network." The malicious software, or malware, took advantage of vulnerability in a Java program used as a ‘plug-in' for Web browsing programs.

A ‘small number' of computer systems at Apple were infected but they were isolated from the main network, according the Silicon Valley based company.

"There is no evidence that any data left Apple," Apple said. "We are working closely with law enforcement to find the source of the malware."

Word of hackers hitting Apple came just days after leading social network Facebook was ‘targeted in a sophisticated attack' last month, but that it found no evidence any user data was compromised.

Facebook said the malware came from an infected website of a mobile developer and that "we remediated all infected machines, informed law enforcement, and began a significant investigation that continues to this day".

It was unclear whether it was the same website blamed for the attack on Apple. u00a0 u00a0