NEW YORK - Computer and software giant Apple (IW 500/4) said Sunday that it took its software developers website offline after it was hacked, warning that personal information about its users may have been stolen.
"Last Thursday, an intruder attempted to secure personal information of our registered developers from our developer website," Apple said in a statement.
Although sensitive information was encrypted, "we have not been able to rule out the possibility that some developers' names, mailing addresses, and/or email addresses may have been accessed."
The information technology giant said in a statement titled "We'll be back soon" that they made the hack attack known "in the spirit of transparency."
Company officials "took the site down immediately on Thursday and have been working around the clock since then.
"In order to prevent a security threat like this from happening again, we're completely overhauling our developer systems, updating our server software, and rebuilding our entire database," Apple said, apologizing and adding that they "expect to have the developer website up again soon."
The site is a portal for third-party software writers designing apps for the company's popular iPhones, iPads and Mac computers, and hosts forums for developers.
According to specialty publication Macworld, for days many developers have been posting frustrating and angry messages on Twitter about the site being down.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2013
