Telegram Is Where Cyber Criminals Do Business

Telegram is a free and open-source platform that offers cloud-based instant messaging to its users  and the service is justifiably popular for its end-to-end encrypted chats, file sharing, and video calling feature. In other words, Telegram is a WhatsApp alternative.

Now research shows that a growing network of criminals are using Telegram to share data leaks on the platform. In fact, it looks like Telegram has become a major a hub for cyber criminals looking to buy, sell and share stolen data and hacking tools, as the messaging app emerges as an alternative to the Dark Web.

The Financial Times reports that this increase in cyber criminal activities on Telegram has increase since angry WhatsApp users switched to Telegram to have the same benefits of instant messaging with extra security and privacy. What seems to have cause the use of Telegram is that recently WhatsApp announced an update in its policy and terms of service, literally forcing users to accept their new terms and conditions wherein it would share data with its parent company, Facebook. 

Privacy activists and consumers were outraged by WhatsApp’s revised policy, so much so, that they decided to switch from WhatsApp entirely and move to secure alternatives like Telegram and Signal.

An investigation by cyber intelligence group Cyberint, together with the Financial Times, found a ballooning network of hackers sharing data leaks on the popular messaging platform, sometimes in channels with tens of thousands of subscribers, lured by its ease of use and light-touch moderation.In many cases, the content resembled that of the marketplaces found on the dark web, a group of hidden websites that are popular among hackers and accessed using specific anonymising software.

Telegram has become a locale of choice for cyber criminals looking to buy or sell stolen user data and share hacking tools.

Cyber criminals have been lured to the encrypted messaging app from the dark web by Telegram’s lack of moderation and secure servers. On the platform stolen personal data is shared by hackers with tens of thousands of users Telegram has declined to comment, but has removed the “combolist” channel in response to claims that hundreds of thousands of leaked usernames and passwords were leaked via the chat room.

About Telegram 

Telegram was launched in 2013 by brothers Nikolia and Pavel Durov. Previously, the pair founded the Russian social network VK, which they left in 2014 after it was taken over by President Putin's allies. It is an online messaging app that works just like popular messaging apps WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger and this means that you can use it to send messages to your friends when connected to Wi-Fi or your mobile data. 

Telegram’s core functionality is the same as most other messaging apps: You can message other Telegram users, create group conversations, call contacts, make video calls, and send files and stickers. 

However, there are a few specific features that make it work differently from other chat apps.

• What makes Telegram unique is its focus on privacy, encryption, and an open-source API. There are countless unofficial clients to go along with the official Telegram apps and web interface. It also allows multiple devices to use the same account (verified by SMS), and multiple accounts on the same device.

• Telegram is cloud-based and claims that it prioritises security and speed, making it a good alternative to other popular messaging apps. 

• Telegram provides end-to-end encrypted voice and video calls and optional end-to-end encrypted "secret" chats. Cloud chats and groups are encrypted between the app and the server, so that ISPs and other third-parties on the network can't access data, but the Telegram server can. 

• Users can send text and voice messages, make voice and video calls, and share an unlimited number of images, documents (2 GB per file), user locations, animated stickers, contacts, and audio files.

• Telegram passed 500 million monthly active users in January 2021 and was the most downloaded app worldwide in with 1 billion downloads globally by August.

In almost very way, Telegram is an ideal platform cyber criminals to do business with each other.

All its activities including chats, groups and media shared between participants, is encrypted. This means that they won’t be visible without being deciphered first. The app also lets you set self-destruct timers on messages and media that you share which can range from two seconds to one week through its built-in feature ‘Secret Chat’. The use end-to-end encryption, leaving no trace on Telegram’s servers.

Financial Times:    Ars Technica:    Slashdot:    City AM:     TechStory:    Voonze:    Android Authority:    Thales:

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