A cybersecurity expert warned Telegram could become "a tool for global surveillance of messenger users."
  • jol@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
    64·
    3 days ago

    Click bait. The report is really grasping at straws. It’s like saying any company that uses AWS servers is linked to the Israel government.

    • LWD@lemm.eeOPEnglish
      63·
      3 days ago

      Well, let’s extend that metaphor. It would work better if the company CEO was

      1. An expatriate from Israel
      2. Marketing his service to Palestinians for free speech
      3. Using AWS servers hosted in Israel when there were plentiful other options

      Perhaps then it would demand closer scrutiny, no?

      • Rose@lemmy.zipEnglish
        6·
        3 days ago
        1. Has secretly visited Israel multiple times despite claiming otherwise, with one of the trips followed by Israel unblocking the app.
        • LWD@lemm.eeOPEnglish
          21·
          2 days ago

          Sorry to double reply, but I realize I buried the more damning stuff.

          Durov himself says:

          [Unblocking Telegram] could have a positive impact on innovative development and national security of the country.

          National security?! What kind of language is that?

          And

          “I travel to places I am sure are in line with our values and what we do. I don’t visit major geopolitical powers or other countries - like China, Russia, or even the United States,” Durov explained his personal security principles in an interview with Carlson.

          So he was just lying then.

          Unless there’s some egregious translation error in this story, this is all damning stuff. It’s not unannounced, it’s definitively deceptive. You don’t want the man who promises to keep your data safe to be a known liar.

          • Rose@lemmy.zipEnglish
            3·
            2 days ago

            The Carlson interview was conducted in English, which Durov spoke pretty fluently.

        • LWD@lemm.eeOPEnglish
          21·
          2 days ago

          Maybe I’m just uncreative, but I can’t think of a single explanation for this without raising more questions in the process.

          An explanation for the trips: “he was just trying to negotiate keeping Telegram in Russia”

          The new questions:

          • If he knows Russia is going to crack down on free speech, why would he want to store easily accessible private message data there?
          • What would he need to give up to appease Putin - or did he just succeed without making any concessions?