Security News > 2022 > March > Both Sides in Russia-Ukraine War Heavily Using Telegram for Disinformation and Hacktivism

Cyber criminals and hacktivist groups are increasingly using the Telegram messaging app for their activities, as the Russia-Ukraine conflict enters its eighth day.

A new analysis by Israeli cybersecurity company Check Point Research has found that "User volume grew a hundred folds daily on Telegram related groups, peaking at 200,000 per group."

Prominent among the groups are anti-Russian cyber attack groups, including the Ukraine government-backed IT Army, which has urged its more 270,000 members to conduct distributed denial-of-service attacks against Russian entities.

Other hacktivist-oriented Telegram groups used to coordinate the attacks on Russian targets via DDoS, SMS or call-based attacks are Anna and Mark , Check Point researchers noted.

Cyber criminals are looking to capitalize on the conflict through Telegram groups containing tens of thousands of users that aim to "Raise funds for Ukraine" and broadcast unverified news reports in an attempt to circumvent mainstream media.

In September 2021, more than 10,000 vendors were uncovered selling counterfeit COVID-19 vaccine certificates, with Telegram groups offering fake vaccine passports for $100. The spike in the use of Telegram in Ukraine hasn't escaped the notice of Moxie Marlinspike, the founder of privacy-oriented messaging Signal, who called the former's "Decade of misleading marketing" for making most people in the country believe "It's an encrypted app."

News URL

https://thehackernews.com/2022/03/both-sides-in-russia-ukraine-war.html