Forces cautioned against Pakistan-propped ‘Aarogya Setu’

New Delhi, April 30

At a time when the government is encouraging people to download ‘Aarogya Setu’ mobile app and has made it mandatory for its employees, intelligence inputs to security agencies have warned the armed forces against a malicious Pakistan-propped prototype application aimed at stealing sensitive data.

Officials in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said based on the inputs, an advisory has been issued, cautioning the forces that their personnel may receive a WhatsApp forward, an SMS, a phishing email or message through any other Internet-based social media showing links to download “Aarogya Setu”.

The officials said it had been suggested in the advisory that they should avoid clicking on the link provided to them through any social media platform or through email. It is rather recommended that the personnel download the app from mygov.in website.

In the advisory, the officials said it had been explained that the malicious application, during the course of its download, asks the user to permit use of Internet and installation of additional application packages, which eventually turn out to be mischievous links like “face.Apk, imo.Apk, normal.Apk, snap.Apk and viber.Apk”. — TNS