In Gurgaon, doctor’s phone hacked after son installs game via APK file

Gurgaon: A doctor posted at a govt civil hospital in Sohna approached police after his mobile phone was allegedly compromised when his 13-year-old son downloaded a game through an APK file sent by a friend.The matter came to light two days ago when the doctor’s mobile phone suddenly became locked and inaccessible. According to police, the device later returned to normal operation on its own. A similar issue was subsequently reported on his wife’s phone, which was also allegedly locked before becoming functional again without any intervention.The matter escalated on Monday when a female employee at the hospital received an obscene WhatsApp message from the doctor’s phone number. The doctor subsequently submitted a formal complaint to the police.Police said both the doctor and his wife later factory-reset their phones before approaching the cybercrime unit. During the preliminary inquiry, police questioned the doctor’s son in the presence of his parents. The child told investigators that he had downloaded a game on his father’s phone using a link shared by a friend. Police said the game was installed through an APK file rather than an official app marketplace.“We also found that WhatsApp messages containing the APK link had been automatically sent to three or four contacts from the doctor’s phone,” an officer said.Investigators also examined the digital trail linked to the incident. According to police, the IP address associated with the suspicious activity was traced to the family’s home Wi-Fi network. Officers clarified that this only indicated that the activity originated from a device connected to the network and did not establish who was responsible.Police said the family had initially suspected that the child’s fingerprint was somehow being misused to gain access to the devices. Investigators, however, ruled out that possibility.A senior police officer said preliminary findings have not indicated any large-scale data breach. “At this stage, there is no evidence that sensitive data was stolen. However, both phones have been formatted and sent for cyberforensic examination to determine how the APK was installed, whether malware was involved and if it led to the devices being compromised,” the officer said.The doctor has submitted a written complaint, but an FIR has not yet been registered. Officers of Cyber South police station are awaiting the forensic report before deciding on further legal action.Police said the recipients of the APK link have not reported any device compromise or approached them with complaints so far.