Apple comments on hacker attack

Apple on Tuesday admitted to being the victim of a hacker attack by the same people that went after Facebook last week. Apple said it is taking steps to help its customers, including releasing an updated Java malware removal tool.

“Apple has identified malware which infected a limited number of Mac systems through a vulnerability in the Java plug-in for browsers,” Apple said in a statement the company provided to The Loop. “The malware was employed in an attack against Apple and other companies, and was spread through a website for software developers. We identified a small number of systems within Apple that were infected and isolated them from our network. There is no evidence that any data left Apple. We are working closely with law enforcement to find the source of the malware.

“Since OS X Lion, Macs have shipped without Java installed, and as an added security measure OS X automatically disables Java if it has been unused for 35 days. To protect Mac users that have installed Java, today we are releasing an updated Java malware removal tool that will check Mac systems and remove this malware if found,” the company said.