Telangana government officials have been alerted by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) to be cautious about phishing attacks in the name of Aarogya Setu mobile application as Pakistan-based groups were sending links to take away data of users.
Phishing denotes the cyber term of luring and cheating an internet user through a fake SMS or email and thereby breaching their privacy to steal sensitive information.
IB Informed the government that actors from Pakistan are initiating a campaign to compromise Android-based smartphones and devices of Indian Defence personnel and government officials by sending messages on Whatsapp and SMS to click on a link to download the fake Aarogya Setu app .
“As the user tries to download the app by opening the link, a malicious app (ChatMe) downloads on the device and begins data exfiltration to the servers of the adversary based outside India” the note circulated by the Intelligence Department said.
Telangana government has advised people to download the app only via MyGov.in, or Google Play Store and Apple App store.