Cybercriminals are fleeing Telegram.

Kaspersky Digital Footprint Intelligence has just announced that it has conducted in-depth monitoring of more than 800 blocked Telegram channels due to their involvement in cybercrime activities between 2021 and 2024.

Although many illegal activities are still taking place on the Telegram platform, the reality is that cybercriminals are finding it increasingly difficult to maintain their operations "underground".

Kaspersky researchers have discovered two distinct trends in the illicit activities taking place on this platform.

Specifically, the average lifespan of criminal channels is increasing significantly. The percentage of channels existing for more than 9 months in the 2023-2024 period more than tripled compared to the 2021-2022 period. Meanwhile, the blocking and removal of these channels on Telegram has also increased sharply.

Telegram is no longer an ideal breeding ground for cybercriminals.

In addition, Telegram also has several disadvantages for cybercriminals, such as: chat data is not end-to-end encrypted (E2E) by default for messages, it is not allowed to use private servers (because Telegram's system is centralized), and the server source code is closed, making it impossible for malicious actors to verify how the platform works.

As a result, some long-standing "underground" communities, including the BFRepo group (a community specializing in exchanging, buying, and sharing cyberattack tools), with nearly 9,000 members, have begun shifting their operations to other platforms or using their own custom messaging applications, due to constant disruptions on Telegram.

Vladislav Belousov, a Digital Footprint Analyst at Kaspersky, says that cybercriminals view Telegram as a convenient tool for many illegal activities, but they are also beginning to weigh the risks against the benefits.

"From observation, we see the first signs of a wave of 'migration' to other platforms. This is a clear consequence of the series of tightening measures on these platforms," said Vladislav Belousov.

To help users and organizations mitigate risks from covert activities on Telegram, Kaspersky recommends reporting channels and bots that show clear signs of violations, helping to speed up the community moderation process.

Currently, besides Telegram, modern messaging apps like WhatsApp, Signal, and many similar apps are often used for illegal purposes.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/toi-pham-mang-thao-chay-khoi-telegram-196251211160945839.htm