According to cybersecurity experts at Kaspersky Digital Footprint Intelligence, cybercriminals are increasingly active on Telegram , creating dedicated channels and groups to discuss scams, share stolen databases, and offer a variety of other illegal services such as illegal withdrawals, document forgery, DDoS attacks, and more.
During the period from May to June 2024, the number of posts related to these activities increased by 53% compared to the same period last year.
According to analyst Alexey Bannikov, there are several reasons why the cybercriminal community is increasingly active on Telegram.
First, it is a very popular messaging app with 900 million monthly users.
Second, Telegram promotes itself as the most secure and independent messaging app, which does not collect user data. This gives attackers a sense of security, as they can act freely without fear of being detected.
Additionally, finding or creating a community on Telegram is also quite easy. The combination of these factors has led to Telegram channels, including those of cybercriminals, quickly attracting a large number of users.
Cybercriminals operating on Telegram are typically less technically skilled and experienced than those operating on more limited, specialized dark web forums.
The reason is that joining the underground community on Telegram is quite easy, those with bad intentions just need to create an account, join any channel, group related to criminal activities they find on Telegram.
Furthermore, Telegram lacks a reputation rating system like other dark web forums. As a result, scams are common on Telegram, affecting many members using the platform.
Mr. Alexey Bannikov added: “Recently, Telegram tends to become a platform for hacktivists (politically motivated hackers) to express their political views and positions.
Taking advantage of Telegram's large user base and ability to quickly disseminate content, hacktivists use the platform as a powerful tool to incite DDoS attacks and other destructive methods against target infrastructure.
At the same time, criminals can also publicly disclose stolen data from the organizations they attack through secret channels on Telegram."
