French hacker claims Baba Ramdev's new messaging app Kimbho a 'security disaster'

An anonymous French researcher has flagged serious security concerns in Baba Ramdev's messaging application Kimbho, which the yoga guru has pitched as a counter to WhatsApp.

A day after the app went live, the 'security expert', who goes by the Twitter name Elliot Alderson, claimed he could access the messages of all Kimbho app users, calling it a "security disaster."

Alderson had previously flagged chinks in some top government apps, including Aadhaar. "This (Kimbho) is a joke... If it is not clear, for the moment don't install this app," Alderson said in a tweet.


The app is not available on the Google Play Store but is available on iOS. Alderson claimed that the app was a copy of a similar application called 'Bolo'.

"The description and the screenshots in the app stores are the same. Moreover, the Kimbho app is making request to bolomessenger[.]com," he tweeted.

Kimbho is a Sanskrit word and according to Patanjali's spokesperson SK Tijarawala, it means "How are you? or What's new?"

According to Faisal Kawoosa, Head New Initiatives, CyberMedia Research (CMR), it will not be easy for "Kimbho" to create a space dominated by WhatsApp for just on being "Swadeshi."

"So far, just around 5,000 installations and reviews are full of issues and concerns. Nevertheless, seems Patanjali is getting serious about communications," Kawoosa tweeted.