Telegram has long been suspected of ties to the FSB. Now a respected international expert has examined those suspicions. What did he conclude?

Telegram has long been suspected of ties to the FSB. Now a respected international expert has examined those suspicions. What did he conclude?

A year ago, the outlet Important Stories published a high-profile investigation saying that Telegram has a critical vulnerability that makes it possible to collect a great deal of information about users and even, supposedly, determine who is corresponding with whom inside the messenger.

The journalists also accused Pavel Durov’s company of ties to the FSB through server operator Vladimir Vedeneyev. In response, Vedeneyev sued the authors of the investigation and commissioned an independent review from influential international cryptography expert Nadim Kobeissi. Kobeissi’s conclusions are mixed: on the one hand, he confirmed the existence of a dangerous vulnerability in Telegram’s architecture; on the other, he found the accusations of the messenger’s ties to the FSB unproven.

We explain in detail the review whose findings are useful for all Telegram users to know, especially if you live in Russia.

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Meduza

Does the FSB know who you’re corresponding with on Telegram?

Almost a year ago, our colleagues at the outlet Important Stories published the investigation “How Telegram Is Connected to the FSB.” An English-language version of the piece was published on the website of the international investigative journalism consortium OCCRP.