Telegram’s “cybercrime ecosystem” draws both thieves and hacktivists. The use of encrypted messaging apps by criminals is a very predictable development, and the report notes that a variety are used. But Telegram has become particularly popular as a cybercrime ecosystem for a variety of reasons.

Telegram has a 32% penetration in Italy. (Statista, 2020) Neighboring Spain has 25% of survey respondents saying they use Telegram regularly. (Statista, 2020) 32% of Spanish millennials are Telegram users. (Elogia, 2020) The app’s share is slightly less in Austria at only 11%.

^{Telegram is a messaging app that is similar to WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. It was created by Russian entrepreneur Pavel Durov and is known for its emphasis on security and speed. Telegram allows users to send messages, photos, videos, and other files to others and to create group chats with up to 200,000 members.}

Comparing the two apps, Telegram is the clear winner for this purpose. Telegram lets you share files up to 2GB, while WhatsApp caps it at 16MB for media files and 100MB for documents.

Just weeks into the Ukraine war, Time proclaimed that the decade-old app was “the digital battle space,” a moniker that held up over the weekend as onlookers used Telegram to try to suss out QJuC. 215 24 128 173 187 48 215 103 309

telegram what is it used for