Porn links compromise Telegram accounts of Gujarat cops

Ahmedabad: Several police inspectors in Gujarat found themselves answering uncomfortable questions after explicit links were automatically sent from their Telegram accounts to colleagues and senior officers.

The CID (crime) cyber cell suspects a malware attack may have compromised the accounts. The incident appears to have spread through Telegram after users clicked on malicious links.Investigators are now examining whether the police force was deliberately targeted.One affected inspector, who has served with a state police agency, said he received a Telegram message from a cloth merchant known to him. Assuming it was genuine, he clicked on the link before realising it contained explicit content and deleted the message almost immediately.

“The next day, fellow officers and senior officials started asking why I had sent them a pornographic link. That’s when I realised my Telegram account had been compromised,” the officer said.He initially approached a private cyber expert, who formatted the phone and installed an antivirus software. However, the explicit links continued to be sent from his Telegram account. He then approached the cyber cell.Another inspector posted in Gandhinagar said he received the same pornographic link from a fellow officer whose account had allegedly been compromised in a similar manner.

“I have also approached the cyber cell to understand exactly how this happened,” he said.According to police sources, several inspectors and other personnel received identical links over the past few days. Investigators are now trying to establish whether police officers were deliberately targeted or whether the malware spread through contact lists after the first few accounts were compromised.“Clicking on such links can install malware or give attackers access to a user’s device. Once that happens, they can misuse messaging applications, harvest contact lists, and automatically circulate the same malicious links to others. If the compromise goes unnoticed, it can also expose victims to financial fraud and put everyone in their contact list at risk,” a cybercrime officer said.No FIR has been registered so far. The CID (Crime) cyber cell is examining the malware, tracing its source and assessing the extent of the compromise.