Ex-Brahmos Engineer Nishant Agarwal Case: THESE 3 apps were used by Pakistani spies to hack his laptop

ex-brahmos engineer nishant agarwal case: these 3 apps were used by pakistani spies to hack his laptop

Nishant Agrawal, a missile engineer working with BrahMos Aerospace, was sentenced to life imprisonment for leaking sensitive information to Pakistani intelligence. Agrawal, who worked in the missile assembly unit in Nagpur, was convicted under Section 235 of the Criminal Procedure Code and found guilty of offences under Section 66(f) of the IT Act and various sections of the Official Secrets Act (OSA).

According to a report by TOI, Pankaj Awasthi, an investigation officer from the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (UP-ATS), revealed during Agrawal's trial that a woman named 'Sejal' created a Facebook account from Pakistan. She was part of a group that shared data and strategies for deceiving Indian defence personnel. Posing as a recruiter for the UK's Hays Aviation on LinkedIn, Sejal engaged Agrawal in conversations, expressing interest in hiring him.

Following Sejal's instructions, Agrawal clicked on the links she provided and installed three malicious apps on his personal laptop in 2017. These apps—Qwhisper, Chat to Hire, and X-trust—were designed to steal data from his device. Investigations revealed that Agrawal's laptop contained crucial documents related to the BrahMos missile, a violation of BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited's (BAPL) security protocols.

Agrawal was arrested in October 2018 in a joint operation by Military Intelligence (MI) and the Anti-Terrorism Squads (ATS) of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. Employed in the technical research section of BAPL, an Indo-Russian joint venture manufacturing BrahMos missiles, Agrawal's actions posed a significant threat to national security, as per TOI.

BrahMos Aerospace is a collaboration between India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the military Industrial Consortium (NPO Mashinostroyenia) of Russia. The organization is known for producing the world's fastest supersonic cruise missile, the BrahMos, a critical asset in India's defence arsenal.

Agrawal's conviction highlights the sophisticated methods used by foreign intelligence agencies to infiltrate and compromise national security. The case serves as a stark reminder of the importance of vigilance and stringent cybersecurity measures in safeguarding classified information.