Beijing - Apple's chief executive met a Chinese leader on Wednesday amid reports that a hacking attack on Apple's iCloud file-storage application may have originated in China.
Tim Cook “exchanged views on protection of users' information” with Chinese Vice Premier Ma Kai at Beijing's Zhongnanhai, the ruling Communist Party's leadership compound, the official Xinhua news agency said.
Cook and Ma also discussed “strengthening cooperation in information and communication fields,” the agency said.
Apple did not immediately report the meeting, which follows its warning to iCloud users in China on Tuesday of “intermittent organised network attacks using insecure certificates to obtain user information.”
Tracing showed the attacks orginated in China and were designed to capture passwords and other personal information, according to GreatFire.org, a website monitoring China's internet controls, which are collectively known as the Great Firewall.
“This is clearly a malicious attack on Apple in an effort to gain access to user names and passwords and consequently all data stored on iCloud such as iMessages, photos, contacts, etc,” Great Fire reported.
It noted that the nationwide attack coincided with this week's launch of the iPhone 6 in China. - Sapa-dpa