French Hacker Claims Aarogya Setu App Not Safe, Says Rahul Gandhi was Right

On May 6, 2020

New Delhi : Arogya Setu, a government app designed to warn people against the infection of the coronavirus, has been downloaded nearly nine crore times so far, but a French hacker has claimed that this app has a flaw due to which the privacy of 9 crore users is in danger. The name of this French hacker is Robert Baptiste who has said that he has found a big flaw in the Arogya Setu app. He has tagged the Arogya Setu App in a tweet, saying, ‘The security of the Arogya Setu App has found flaws. Privacy of 9 crore Indian users is in danger, can you contact in private?

Hi @SetuAarogya,
A security issue has been found in your app. The privacy of 90 million Indians is at stake. Can you contact me in private?
Regards,
PS: @RahulGandhi was right
— Elliot Alderson (@fs0c131y) May 5, 2020

Robert Baptiste is the one who revealed the Aadhaar leak. Apart from this, he has also disclosed many data leaks around the world. Nearly an hour after this tweet, he tweeted again, claiming that he was contacted by the Ministry of Electronic and Information Technology after 49 minutes of his tweet regarding the Arogya Setu app.

Basically, you said "nothing to see here"
We will see.
I will come back to you tomorrow. https://t.co/QWm0XVgi3B
— Elliot Alderson (@fs0c131y) May 5, 2020

In another tweet, he wrote, ‘After 49 minutes of my tweet, the Computer Emergency Response Team i.e. CERT and the team of National Informatics Center (NIC) contacted and I have told them about the drawback of this app.’ They have said that they are waiting for this flaw to be fixed and will tell about it after this.

It is to be noted that in this app, the facility of consultation of doctor through telephone will be added soon. NITI Aayog Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Amitabh Kant gave this information. The central government has made it mandatory for government and private sector employees to use the Arogya Setu mobile application to strengthen the ongoing campaign against the coronavirus epidemic.

Heads of organizations have been asked to ensure that this app is in the phones of all employees. “The Arogya Setu app has been downloaded nearly nine crore times so far,” Kant told a press conference. It is adding the facility of telemedicine (consultation of physician via telephone). “This mobile app helps users to know whether they are at risk of infection with coronavirus.

It also provides important information to people including ways to prevent infection with the coronavirus. Kant is also the head of the ‘Empowered Group 6’ formed to coordinate with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and international organizations for the prevention of the coronavirus epidemic. He said that Group-6 has so far connected more than 92 thousand NGOs and Social Organizations (CSOs) from the NGO Darpan Manch.

He said, “Group-6 has appealed to NGOs and CSOs to help states and districts identify hotspots, land volunteers and help the needy people.”