• Kaspersky has seen a sharp increase in the the number of posts on Telegram relating to cybercrime.
• The firm says Telegram’s low barrier to entry makes it a prime destination for budding cybercriminals.
• With very little oversight from Telegram itself, scammers, cybercriminals and more flood the platform constantly.

The focus on privacy and anonymity that Telegram holds, has the negative effect of attracting users with bad intentions who value the fact that it doesn’t require a telephone number. That, coupled with minimal to non-existent content moderation means that more often than not, cybercriminals favour Telegram for their activities.

Concerningly, Kaspersky has revealed that the volume of posts discussing fraud schemes, distributing leaked databases, and trading various criminal services, such as cashing out, forging documents, DDoS attacks as a service and more, has increased over the last year. Between May and June of this year, Kaspersky noted that posts discussing the above increased 53 percent compared to the year prior.

“The growing interest in Telegram from the cybercriminal community is driven by several key factors. Firstly, this messenger is very popular in general – its audience has reached 900 million monthly users, according to Pavel Durov [founder of Telegram]. Secondly, it is marketed as the most secure and independent messenger that does not collect any user data, giving threat actors a sense of security and impunity. Moreover, finding or creating a community on Telegram is relatively easy, which, combined with other factors, allows various channels, including cybercriminal ones, to gather an audience quickly,” explains Alexey Bannikov, analyst at Kaspersky Digital Footprint Intelligence.

But Kaspersky says that cybercriminals on Telegram aren’t as sophisticated as those on dark web forums. This is because the barrier to entry is incredibly low and anybody with a passing interest in hacking could create an account and jump into the world of cybercrime. Of course, this also means the barrier for entry for law enforcement is low.

As the cybersecurity firm tells it, would-be cybercriminals also take advantage of their fellow ne’er-do-wells as unlike hacking forums, there is no reputation system and scammers can come and go with impunity.

“There is another trend: Telegram has emerged as a platform where various hacktivists make statements and express their views. Due to its extensive user base and rapid content distribution through Telegram channels, hacktivists find the platform a convenient tool to incite DDoS attacks and other disruptive methods against targeted infrastructures. Additionally, they can release stolen data from attacked organisations into the public domain using shadow channels,” notes Bannikov.

Telegram’s place in the modern world is a strange one. The app itself offers end-to-end encryption for some messages and its distance from Meta is appealing to many. But it’s clear that Telegram is a haven for those with ill intent. Whether something will be done is unlikely barring a government ordering the firm to take action.