"Is Telegram the New Dark Web? Report Documents 'Cybercrime Ecosystem' on Messaging App"
According to a new report from the cybercrime intelligence firm KELA, Telegram, a popular privacy-first messaging app, has become home to a "cybercrime ecosystem" similar to dark web forums. Cybercriminals are gathering on Telegram to plan the exchange of stolen personal data, facilitate ransomware payments, and more. Criminals are drawn to the messaging platform since it is simple to create new accounts without revealing any identifying information. Users can easily manage several accounts, signing up with foreign phone numbers that do not require having a SIM card or a major carrier. Although law enforcement has some visibility into user activity, identifying and tracking down a careful user is difficult. According to the report, several other encrypted chat apps have their own cybercrime ecosystems, including Discord, Jabber, Tox, and Wickr. However, none of these have anything near Telegram's core userbase or continuous rollout of new features. Some of these alternatives are also only popular in certain regions, such as Jabber, which is popular among Russian hackers. In addition, the alternatives lack the robust automatic translation that Telegram has. Researchers found that the Telegram cybercrime ecosystem is more focused on selling individual Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and login credentials than corporate secrets. Still, high-level database information does emerge for sale on occasion. For example, the database of an unnamed insurance company with 120 million subscribers was observed being sold for $360,000. This article continues to discuss Telegram becoming a major cybercrime ecosystem.