Apple has been attacked by the same hackers who targeted Facebook, as the technology giant saw its internal systems infected by a virus.
The company’s staff saw their Mac computers infected with a virus, which came through the same “malware” program used against the social networking site last week.
Apple said a small number of computers were involved and there was no evidence the hackers had stolen any data.
The breach is a huge embarrassment for Apple, whose Macintosh computers are usually thought to be safer from viruses than Windows-based PCs.
Experts say developers have trained their sights on writing malware to target Macs as the company’s market share has grown.
Apple said the attack had also targeted other firms and “was spread via a website for software developers”.
It said it plans a software update to repair infected Macs and is trying to trace the source.
News of the most high-profile cyber attack to date comes as a US security firm claimed to have pinpointed a building in Shanghai, China, used by one of the world’s “most prolific cyber-espionage groups”.