Is Telegram’s Embedded Privacy Aiding Criminals?

The state of Internet security is always a trip. There are scams literally everywhere and there are better minds than ours that want to solve the myriad of problems that users run into online. One such platform is the secure communications software Telegram founded by Pavel Durov. In this attempt to revolutionize the instant messaging space, he’s found himself in some pretty hot water. Let’s dive right in.

Telegram Founder, Pavel Durov, Arrested in France

The French authorities have charged the entrepreneur with a long list of offenses, but before we get into that, let’s take a look at the app he founded, Telegram.

What is Telegram?

Telegram was created as a communications app. It’s an instant messenger in the same vein as WhatsApp (Meta), Google Hangouts (Google, obviously), and Signal (which is actually owned by a non-profit: The Signal Foundation).

The thing that helps Telegram stand out is actually three things. The first is that the app offers end-to-end encryption (E2EE), you don’t need a phone number to open an account, and it isn’t owned by a massive tech company that has betrayed user trust too many times to list in this space. 

So Telegram is supposedly extraordinarily secure, extremely private as compared to other common forms of person-to-person communication; and isn’t owned by a massive tech company. This is pretty attractive for a lot of people, and we mean a lot. Over 900 million people use Telegram, which is just short of the billion or so that use Facebook Messenger and significantly less than Meta’s other IM platform, WhatsApp, which sports a cool two billion active users. Either way, it’s pretty popular. 

Their major selling point is that they offer End-to-End Encryption. This is offered by other IM platforms, but it is a feature you should be aware of. E2EE is a system where whatever you send to someone else is secured and only can be viewed by you and the person on the other end of the message feed. This feature is important, because the way it is marketed, that means your messages can’t be viewed by anyone else. Not the app provider, the ISP, or anyone else for that matter. When a piece of messaging software offers E2EE, you should expect it to be a private message.

Like anything in business, however, there is the fine print to worry about. Telegram only uses E2EE in calls and what they refer to as “secret chats.” This means that despite the brilliant marketing, not all communications undertaken in the app are encrypted. This is significant because their major competitor in the space, WhatsApp, offers E2EE in every call, every message, and every video call. 

So, while there are some questions about their E2EE services, Telegram is pretty good on the surface. It’s more secure than most IM apps, and if you don’t really trust Facebook or Google, it’s the next best option on the market.

The Telegram Controversy

Well, things aren’t always as good as they seem. Mr. Durov, 39, was detained on a trip to France and is being held there and charged as being personally liable for the actions of the hundreds of millions of people who use his app. The Russian national, Durov faces charges for a litany of illicit actions by the users of the app. They include fraud, drug trafficking, distribution of child pornography, and more. The charge that we want to talk about today is the one that says he is complicit in managing an online platform that allows illegal transactions by organized crime. If convicted, he faces over a decade in prison. 

The charges filed by French authorities were shocking to those seemingly untouchable folks in Silicon Valley. Imagine if Mark Zuckerberg was detained for all the crimes committed using one of his platforms? The whole tech world is looking at how the French Republic is going about this situation. The Telegram app wasn’t created with an eye to support crimes, it’s a secure messaging app. Unfortunately for Mr. Durov, his app is being used to commit organized crime and other egregious acts, and French prosecutors blame him.

Is Privacy a Problem?

We constantly talk about how important cybersecurity is. Data privacy has been one of the biggest issues in online communities for as long as there has been an Internet. It’s important and we stand by that.

Unfortunately, in this new era there are consequences for what are thought of as positive actions. Think about the level of scandal Facebook and Google have had to confront. Facebook has abetted genocide and was front and center of one of the largest political scandals in history. Google has repeatedly been fined for anti-competitive behavior and has ignored calls to combat misinformation all over the globe.

These companies have to be moderated. It’s the nature of the beast. They don’t like it. Nobody likes other people constantly telling them their business. No one likes to have their personal information taken, bundled and sold in real-time so that other organizations can sell you things. Everyone is creeped out by this. This is why we need oversight. We need moderation. With the establishment of machine learning and AI, we can’t let organizations that perpetuate evil use technology against us. We can’t tell you the level of moderation or regulation that is right, but the fact is, there needs to be some. 

So What About Cybersecurity?

All these messaging apps are perfectly fine to use. They weren’t developed to be evil. Regardless of what technology is available, there are going to be opportunists looking to get over on people for profit, whether that be CEOs or drug dealers. It’s just another case of a few bad apples making it hard on everyone else.

This is the reason that everyone needs to be aware of how scams are perpetrated against people. No IM developer set out to give you malware, but using their platform are plenty of people who want to. The people at Telegram or WhatsApp didn’t set out to create a black market where criminals operate with impunity, it’s just simpler to do with enhanced privacy. It doesn’t matter what technology you use, there are people out there using it against you and for their own slimy benefit.

You need to trust the technology you use. We are all up against it when it comes to dealing with hackers, scammers, and opportunists. You need to understand how people try to get over on people and be vigilant in your attempts to thwart those efforts.

If your business is constantly spending time and money in an attempt to keep from dealing with intercepted data, data breaches, or the near-constant phishing problem, give us a call to talk to our cybersecurity experts. We can give you some pretty valuable insights about how to take control of your cybersecurity efforts, and do it affordably. Give us a call today at (781) 715-1900.