iWorld
Tejinder Kalra is COO at Indus Towers
MUMBAI: Indian Telecom tower company Indus Towers announced the appointment of Tejinder Kalra as the chief operating officer (COO), as on 1 July 2016. With over 26 years of experience in the telecom and telecom services industry, Tejinder holds an extensive experience in strategy development, implementation and service delivery across geographies says an Indus Towers release
Indus Towers CEO Bimal Dayal said, “In line with Indus’ pursuit of building a strong leadership team for the future, I would like to announce appointment of Tejinder Kalra. His passion, strategic clarity and disciplined execution will help ensure that Indus Towers’ continues to deliver our best to our customers.”
Tejinder joins Indus Towers from Nokia, where he was the Global Head for Bharti Business in his most recent role. He has worked with Nokia for over 13 years, and has been a pivotal part of their growth story. In his last role, he managed the end to end P&L ownership for Bharti Telecom business globally. He was also the Sub-Region Head for Central, East and Western Africa in an earlier role where he helped set-up Nokia’s Airtel operations in Africa.
Tejinder has been associated with Reliance Infocomm, Satyam Infoway, Sprint RPG India amongst other organizations in the past. He has done his engineering from Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology and Executive Diploma in International Business from IIFT.
iWorld
Meta warns 200 users after fake Whatsapp spyware attack
Italy-targeted campaign used unofficial app to deploy surveillance spyware.
MUMBAI: It looked like a message, but it behaved like a mole. Meta has warned around 200 users most of them in Italy after uncovering a targeted spyware campaign that weaponised a fake version of WhatsApp to infiltrate devices. The attack, first reported by Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata, relied on classic social engineering with a modern twist: persuading users to download an unofficial WhatsApp clone embedded with surveillance software. The malicious application, believed to be developed by Italian firm SIO through its subsidiary ASIGINT, was designed to mimic the real app closely enough to bypass suspicion.
Meta’s security teams identified roughly 200 individuals who may have installed the compromised version, triggering immediate countermeasures. Affected users were logged out of their accounts and issued alerts warning of potential privacy breaches, with the company describing the incident as a “targeted social engineering attempt” aimed at gaining device-level access.
The malicious app was not distributed via official app stores but circulated through third-party channels, where it was presented as a legitimate WhatsApp alternative. Once installed, it reportedly allowed external operators to access sensitive data stored on the device turning a simple download into a potential surveillance gateway.
According to Techcrunch, Meta is now preparing legal action against the spyware developers to curb further misuse. The company, however, has not disclosed details about the specific individuals targeted or the extent of data compromised.
A Whatsapp spokesperson reiterated that user safety remains the top priority, particularly for those misled into installing the fake iOS application. Meanwhile, reports from La Repubblica suggest the spyware may be linked to “Spyrtacus”, a strain previously associated with Android-based attacks that could intercept calls, activate microphones and even access cameras.
The episode underscores a growing reality in the digital age, the threat is no longer just what you download, but where you download it from. As unofficial apps become increasingly convincing, the line between communication tool and covert surveillance is getting harder to spot and far easier to exploit.
