(Reuters) - Some of the most popular Chinese names in Apple Inc's App Store were infected with malicious software, cyber security company Palo Alto Networks said in a blog on Sept. 18.
Palo Alto Networks said the XcodeGhost malware infected several popular Apple iOS apps, including Tencent Holdings Ltd’s mobile chat app WeChat, car-hailing app Didi Kuaidi, and a music app from Internet portal NetEase Inc.
The Wall Street Journal said in an article on Sunday that the applications were infected after software developers were lured into using a compromised version of Apple's developer tool kit, according to antivirus researchers at a unit of Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd.
Officials at Apple were not immediately available for comment Sunday.
Several Internet companies such as Tencent, NetEase, and Jianshu have made statements on their respective affected products, according to the Palo Alto Networks blog.
As of the time of the writing of the blog on Friday, Palo Alto Networks said 39 iOS apps were infected.
For a copy of the blog, see: http://bit.ly/1LEKFtf
(Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
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