
The American origins of Telegram - doener
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/11/23/the-secret-american-origins-of-telegram-the-encrypted-messaging-app-favored-by-the-islamic-state/
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nickpsecurity
Interesting backstory. I didn't trust the app early on and now trust it less.
Far as ISIS, only had to roll my eyes at the repeated pokes at Telegram
playing a key role in ISIS and their "moral responsibility." Tell the U.S.
military and covert ops community about moral responsibility so groups like
ISIS develop less in the first place. Plus the bankers and oil traders
funnelling the money with a lot less auditing than I get on a checking account
or credit card. Or our friends in Saudi Arabia pushing hardcore doctrine and
schools that creates the terrorist mindset. You don't media and government
calling out for any of these to be disbanded, backdoored, or do a 180 on moral
grounds.

Telegram can feel free to block ISIS channels to disrupt them. However,
they're not the problem and shouldn't feel morally obligated to solve it. If
Telegram blocks them, they just use another app. It's that simple. If
anything, U.S. intelligence should be exploiting the presence of ISIS on an
insecure app as a way to track and fight ISIS.

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iamnothere
I've seen a lot of FUD about Telegram recently, and plenty of shady stuff that
reeks of government pressure, including Facebook banning Telegram links from
Whatsapp and banning its "official" FB page. This article rings a couple of
alarm bells for me -- the subtext seems to imply both that Telegram is not to
be trusted (stay away, vulnerable users!) and that they aren't doing enough to
stop illegal usage (ban it!).

The crypto concerns are valid, though. Telegram needs a professional audit.

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jhasse
> that they aren't doing enough to stop illegal usage (ban it!)

I don't think a messaging app should stop illegal usage at all. Similar to
ISPs.

> Telegram needs a professional audit.

According to [https://www.eff.org/secure-messaging-
scorecard](https://www.eff.org/secure-messaging-scorecard) there has been a
recent code audit. I couldn't find more info though.

~~~
iamnothere
> I don't think a messaging app should stop illegal usage at all. Similar to
> ISPs.

I agree, just saying that the article seems to suggest this. Like I said,
there's been a lot of attempts to scare people about Telegram lately.

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adrtessier
On one hand, I am happy that Telegram exists; its founding story, homebrew
crypto, cute marketing and "not-American" position has made it a shit magnet
for a lot of people that don't know what makes things secure, and are
convinced by some Zuck-esque figure's charisma that he knows what's going on
encryption-wise. It makes it a lightning rod for this type of press, attracts
the idiotic bits of Daesh, and keeps this press-fueled, IC-backed anti-crypto
heat off of other systems that actually _work_ to keep people secure.

On the other hand, some others inevitably become collateral damage, using
Telegram's (entirely) insecure defaults and thinking they have "secret"
messages, or worse yet, enabling MTProto and believing they are safe in high-
risk environments. Given this latest PR stunt, though, I think the benefits of
Telegram's existence seem to outweigh its costs.

