Groups allow for inter-user communication and can host up to 200,000 people by comparison, Facebook Messenger groups max out at 512, and WhatsApp and Signal both cap out at around 1,000. Channels provide a means of one-way communication that can reach unlimited amounts of users.
One is the ability to create user groups and channels.
The platform also has a set of attractive features. Law enforcement may have some visibility into user activity, but actually identifying and tracking down a careful user is another story. They can easily juggle multiple accounts, signing up by using foreign phone numbers that don’t require possession of a SIM card or the use of a major carrier. Criminals are nevertheless attracted to it because it is easy to create new accounts without giving up any identifying information. The messaging app does have a history of cooperation with law enforcement, and since the code is not public it is not known exactly what level of privacy protection users are enjoying. But Telegram has become particularly popular as a cybercrime ecosystem for a variety of reasons. The use of encrypted messaging apps by criminals is a very predictable development, and the report notes that a variety are used. Telegram’s “cybercrime ecosystem” draws both thieves and hacktivists The report notes that it is not so much that Telegram offers the best privacy options of the messaging services, but that it allows for building very large private groups and the use of bots along with simple account creation requirements that make it easy to hide user identities. Criminals are meeting on Telegram to organize exchanges of stolen personal data, facilitate ransomware payments, and ship illegal goods all functions that the dark web has been infamous for since “Silk Road” became something of a household name.
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