Apple has brought down a large number of apps from its store after it was found that around 40 iOS apps had been infected by a modified version of the company's software for developers.
Christine Monaghan, an Apple spokeswoman, told news outlets that the company removed apps from the App Store that it knows have been created with the counterfeit software, to protect its customers.
Palo Alto Networks reported last week that a new malware, called XcodeGhost, modified the Xcode integrated development environment for building apps for the Mac, iPhone and iPad. Palo Alto said it was cooperating with Apple on the breach and recommended that all iOS developers be aware and take necessary actions. XcodeGhost, which targets compilers, collects information on devices and uploads the data to command and control servers.