Apple, Facebook attacks linked to iPhone development site

At least 40 companies including Apple Inc, Facebook Inc and Twitter Inc have been hit by attacks launched by an East European gang of hackers that is looking to steal company secrets, Bloomberg said citing two people familiar with the matter.

According to Apple, one of three victims that disclosed the attacks this month, some of its internal Mac systems were affected by a malware attack. The report said the hackers used an iPhone-developer website, citing people familiar with law enforcement efforts, as also investigations by the FBI and Secret Service, and who did not want to be  named because of the probe.

''There is no evidence that any data left Apple. We are working closely with law enforcement to find the source of the malware,'' a statement released by Apple Inc. said today.

''We identified a small number of systems within Apple that were infected and isolated them from our network,'' Cupertino-based Apple said yesterday in a statement. ''There is no evidence that any data left Apple. We are working closely with law enforcement to find the source of the malware.''

According to investigators working with the companies, the attack came as part of the same series of breaches that targeted Facebook and Twitter. According to one of the investigators, Apple was the first to discover the attack.

Facebook had last week revealed a detailed hack-attack on its computers but said no user details had been stolen.