WhatsApp boss issues huge safety warning to millions over chat app rival

THE boss of WhatsApp has warned that rival messaging app Telegram is not ‘secure’.

Telegram has had its fair share of controversies over the years, but recent data shows it has a hijacking problem.

Cybersecurity giant Kaspersky vouches that Telegram has phishing problem – particularly in RussiaGetty – Contributor

WhatsApp boss, Will Cathcart, wrote on Twitter: “Telegram lacks real transparency most technology companies have adopted.

“Of course, I recognise that some will say I’m self-interested in critiquing Telegram.

“But there are many other great end-to-end encrypted messaging apps people can choose from. If you aren’t going to use WhatsApp, use one of them – don’t use Telegram.”

Cathcart quoted an article by Wired, which suggests Vladimir Putin’s regime targeted Russian anti-war activists through the messaging app.

The app prides itself on security, and was founded on the basis that it allows users to communicate in ways that can avoid authoritarian surveillance.

However, one Russian activist, Marina Matsapulina, who was arrested by local police alleges they told her that they had been reading her Telegram messages to locate her.

She claims that it would be possible in two ways: A clever phishing scam or through Telegram complying with the Kremlin’s legal requests to share messaging data.

There is no concrete proof of either, and Telegram insists there are inaccuracies in Matsapulina’s claim.

But cybersecurity giant Kaspersky vouches that the app has a phishing problem – particularly in Russia.

In a report published today, cyber experts revealed there was an eyewatering 378,496 attempts to trick Telegram users into clicking phishing links last year.

All of these attempts were associated with account hijacking – whereby the goal is to take over the account for nefarious purposes.

The rate of these attacks has risen considerably since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Apart from a spike in phishing activity throughout June, when the number of blocked links exceeded 37,000, the first three quarters [of the year] were relatively quiet,” experts at the Russian cyber firm wrote.

“However, by the end of the year, the number of phishing attacks on the messenger’s users increased dramatically to 44,700 in October, 83,100 in November and 125,000 in December.”

The massive jump in attacks is “most likely due to several large-scale Telegram account hijacking campaigns that we observed in late 2022”, according to Kaspersky.

“It is of note that the majority of phishing attacks were aimed at users from Russia,” experts added.

A Telegram spokesperson tole The Sun: “Mr. Cathcart has been misled and his statements are incorrect.

“In the almost 10 years of Telegram’s existence, no security flaws that would enable a third-party to intercept or decrypt Secret Chats have been found.”

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