(Cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/26559848/)
Some significant news for Telegram users!
See this article for some interesting backstory context on Pavel Durov and Telegram: https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/the-telegram-billionaire-and-his-dark-empire-a-f27cb79f-86ae-48de-bdbd-8df604d07cc8
Since the post article is in French, here’s an auto-translation:
Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of the encrypted messaging service Telegram, was arrested around 8 p.m. on Saturday evening as he got off his private jet on the tarmac of Le Bourget airport. The 39-year-old Franco-Russian was accompanied by his bodyguard and a woman.
The arrest was carried out by the gendarmes of the GTA (Air Transport Gendarmerie). Registered in the RPF (wanted persons file), Pavel Durov came straight from Azerbaijan. He had over his head a French search warrant issued by the OFMIN of the National Directorate of the French Judicial Police, issued on the basis of a preliminary investigation.
Why was he under threat of a search warrant?
The Justice considers that the lack of moderation, cooperation with the police and the tools offered by Telegram (disposable number, cryptocurrencies, etc.) makes it complicit in drug trafficking, paedophile offences and fraud.
This search warrant ran if, and only if, Pavel Durov was on national territory. “He made a mistake tonight. We don’t know why… Was this flight just a step? In any case, he’s locked up!” a source close to the investigation told TF1/LCI. Since he knew he was persona non grata in France, Pavel Durov used to travel to the Emirates, the countries of the former USSR, South America… He travelled very little in Europe and avoided countries where Telegram is under surveillance.
And now?
Investigators from the ONAF (National Anti-Fraud Office attached to the Customs Directorate) notified him and placed him in police custody. He is expected to be presented to an investigating judge this Saturday evening before a possible indictment on Sunday for a multitude of offences: terrorism, drugs, complicity, fraud, money laundering, concealment, paedophile content…
“Pavel Durov will end up in pre-trial detention, that’s for sure,” comments an investigator to TF1/LCI. “On his platform, he allowed an incalculable number of misdemeanours and crimes to be committed for which he does nothing to moderate or cooperate,” said a source close to the case.
His pre-trial detention at the end of his indictment is indeed in no doubt. Pavel Durov, a billionaire, has substantial means to flee and his guarantees of representation will hardly convince the judges.
A net with international resonance
For the investigators, this international sweep has various objectives. First, it makes it possible to kick the anthill, impress and deter the perpetrators of crimes and offences who exchange, until now, freely on Telegram. Secondly, they aim to put pressure on European countries to step up joint work to make secure messaging on terrorist cases bend.
Indeed, Telegram is a hive of criminal content. At the moment, the platform is in the news with the illegal broadcasting of Ligue 1 matches. But on this encrypted messaging service, many accounts are used by organized crime. Beyond terrorism, the most dangerous pedophiles communicate on Telegram to exchange content. “It has become for years THE number 1 platform for organized crime,” comments an investigator.
Yeah I am a cryptographer, reverse engineer and (whitehat) hacker. I’m also well versed in the russian influence operations having run rampant in the west for a bit more than a decade.
The Telegram-supporters are out in force right now specifically to make sure people keep using Telegram, believing it to be secure. Russia has already made used of their backdoors against Ukraine in the war.
Russia banning Signal now was a huge blunder, since that proves there’s nothing in Telegram they don’t have access to, having allowed it to keep operating.
The main draw of telegram is not that it is secure it’s that it’s basically unmoderated. As a Russian I’ve had nothing but bad experiences with government censorship (dissent being equated to extremism and treason, LGBT advocacy equated to pedophilia) and it leads me to be deeply distrustful of the concept in a way similar to first amendment fanatics in the US (the first amendment is one of the uniquely good things about america you can’t get in other “civilized” “western” countries). I suspect durov might have similar sentiments (though ofc I don’t condone all the bad shit posted in the network and would prefer if it was moderated).
Still, whatever its faults, Telegram is the last remaining open social network in Russia where you can write whatever you like to a large audience and the government won’t be able to remove it. They censored and blocked pretty much all the other ones.
No no no. Tell me how Durov, or someone else get access to my one-to-one crypto chat, if I compile mtproto self from github? You white hacker? Great. Try it and if you can you will be money rewarded. 500 dollars. OK?
P.S. If you will have problem with get money from Russia as we have problems to get money from Europe, I can send you money with crypto.
As a separate statement: they can’t (probably).
In context of the discussion: they don’t need to, because secret chats are so inconvenient and fussy that they are seldom used. There is a lot of crime happening in public groups/channels, in “private” groups chats that can not be encrypted, or in 1-on-1’s that are not secret. Telegram has the ability to stop all of that with just some moderation, or turn messages over to the authorities, but they don’t. Which is precisely why Durov is in custody right now. If he actually made a messenger with good, convenient end-to-end encryption, he would be in the same situation with Signal authors, who have perfect deniability since they can’t read anything their users have sent up until this point.
You didn’t understand why I quoted that part the first time around. Let’s try it again.
And why? because no one do that in real? So, you see on it different if you life or your freedom depends on the messenger. No all countries looks like EU. In my Android phone self compiled linphone and self compiled telegram client. That’s my reality.
P.S. On the other hand, apple still fulfills all the requirements of the Russian authorities in the Russian store. By the way, the store works great. Why do you think that the same thing is not being done in other countries?
@nitrolife @troed
What made you think Telegram was secure in the first place?
Personally, I am studying the protocol. Do you have any exact data on how to hack a one-to-one crypted chat? I am ready to buy this information from you for money, if it is real.