Amidst the ongoing privacy and data misuse debate in India after the Chinese applications ban, it has come to light that a coordinated network of mobile applications created by the Pakistani developers has been targeting Indian Army enthusiasts and BJP supporters.
According to a recent India Today report, apps named 'Indian Army PhotoSuit Editor 2020-Army Suit Editor' and 'Police Suit Photo Editor - Man Police Photo Suit' are under scanner for suspicious behaviour.
Indian Army PhotoSuit Editor 2020-Army Suit Editor
According to the information from the Google App Store, the app provides a customised look of the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force uniform. The description of the app on Google Play Store reads: “Here you can see how you look in these clothes if you purchase these suits from the market. So you can easily get an idea related to those who wear clothes or army dress”.
More than 10,000 users have installed the app. The app claims to be offered by SnowBerry and shows the address of Birmingham, United Kindom.
Police Suit Photo Editor - Man Police Photo Suit
This app provides a customised look of the army, navy, and police uniform. The description of the app on Google Play Store reads: "Most of the people love with Army and Navy dress and attract people and especially army officers and Navy officer uniform. So we bring you an app of the army and Navy dress photo editing."
This app was also installed by more than 10,000 users and claims to be offered by SnowBerry.
In addition to these two apps, several apps by companies like RedBeriApps and Uabrave are also scanner. One of the apps offered by Uabrave offers users to create their customised BJP posters with pictures of PM Narendra Modi and BJP symbol. Name of this app is BeJay Pe Banner photo Frames Be Jay Pe Moddi Flex.
Earlier in May, the Indian Army had issued a warning to its personnel against Pakistani agencies’ nefarious designs to hack the phones of Indian military personnel through a malicious application similar to the Aarogya Setu app.
“Inimical intelligence agencies have developed a malicious app by the name Aarogya Setu.apk. Such apps were found to be sent by Pakistan-based Pakistani Intelligence Operatives to WhatsApp groups of Indian Army personnel,” the Army had stated in its warning.
The Army had also told its men and women that the Aarogya Setu application must be downloaded only from the Indian government website (mygov.in) or Android Play Store or iOS Apple Play Store.
(With inputs from ANI)
