Apple has become the latest big company to admit it has been a victim of computer hacking.

The multinational said there was no indication that any data had been taken and was working with authorities to investigate the incident. It comes just a week after social media giant Facebook revealed it had been the victim of a similar cyber attack.

The California-based corporation said in a statement: "Apple has identified malware which infected a limited number of Mac systems through a vulnerability in the Java plug-in for browsers. 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." It added that it was releasing an updated Java malware removal tool that would remove the malware from computers if found.

Last week Facebook said on its security blog the company discovered that its system had been targeted in a sophisticated attack in January.

The attack occurred when a handful of the company's employees visited a developer's compromised website, which led to malware being installed on their laptops.

Facebook said it has found no evidence that user data was compromised.

PA