A few days ago we asked whether Telegram was really a good alternative to WhatsApp. The reason for this was that the founder of Signal massively criticized the messenger. He particularly criticizes the security and accuses the competitor of duping its users. “Telegram stores all your contacts, groups, media and every message you have ever sent or received in plain text on its own servers,” is the criticism of Signal founder Moxie Marlinspike. The app that users have installed on their mobile phone is a window to look at the servers where the data is actually stored.
Almost everything that the user sees in the app is also visible to the operators of Telegram, according to Marlinspike. Even more. The “secret chats” are equipped with end-to-end encryption (E2EE). But, so the criticism of the Signal founder, the developers use a security protocol of dubious quality. Telegram did not want to leave that as it was and contacted inside digital. A spokesman tells us that a viable way to break the encryption currently used by Telegram has never been found.
Encryption at Telegram: Experts rate it as secure Telegram defends against Signal’s allegations.
“I think it’s important to note that everything that is sent via Telegram is securely encrypted,” says Telegram spokesman Remi Vaughn. Cloud chats would use client-server encryption and everything stored in the cloud would also be encrypted. “Secret chats, one-on-one calls and video calls use end-to-end encryption. This enables Telegram to offer secure cloud chats that can be accessed from any device – in addition to end-to-end encrypted secret chats” describes Vaughn.
The Telegram spokesperson explains to us that the messenger’s encryption protocol is fully documented so that independent researchers can verify its integrity. “Several security experts have analyzed Telegram’s encryption,” Vaughn tells us. A study by the Italian University of Udine comes to the result: The protocol that Telegram uses for encryption is “definitely to be regarded as secure”.
When it comes to encryption, Telegram is pretty sure about it. So sure that they are even offering $ 300,000 in prize money. “Anyone who claims they can decipher messages is invited to prove it. We have started a competition where you can win $ 300,000.”
WhatsApp errors lead to an increase in users of alternative messengers
WhatsApp got itself into a mess this year. With the new terms of use, the popular messenger unsettled and annoyed many users. Alternatives such as Signal or Telegram recorded an unprecedented mass onslaught. When WhatsApp was unavailable for a few hours at the beginning of October and had to contend with a mega outage, the hour struck for Telegram. The messenger gained 70 million new users within a very short time. And you want to keep growing.
Last but not least, this is also shown by the statements by Vaughn, with which the Telegram spokesman defied Signal founder Marlinspike. The fight for every single Messenger user will continue in 2022. WhatsApp is still the most popular messenger in this country. But the alternatives, above all Telegram and Signal, are getting stronger and better.
This content first appeared on inside digital.