Telegram: CEO’s arrest angers cybercriminals; France becomes target

Cybercriminals use Telegram as a meeting and sales point Reprisals against France after Pavel Durov’s arrestthe CEO of the messaging app, last Saturday (24).

According to messages detected by DDW, French institutions and organizations have become the target of cyber attacks. According to cybercriminals, the action is, right because European authorities will seek control over Telegram.

Among the attack messages spread are the European Court of Human Rights, the Council of Europe, the French travel authority (French Customs), the Corsican maritime line operator, the Paris Court, Syane (local fiber optic operator) and the European internet infrastructure company Infomaniak.

The invasions resulted in many secondary actions. For example, cybercriminals may have been selling collected logs, domain removal and collection of personal data of users.

It is unclear whether the movement includes cybercriminals of different nationalities. So far, only messages from Russian groups such as CyberVolk and CyberDragon have been found.

Pavel Durov was arrested

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was arrested in France last Saturday (24). According to sources interviewed by French media, the founder of the social network is accused of crimes related to the application, including inefficient content moderation.

Durov was detained as soon as he landed on a private plane at Le Bourget airport in Paris. It was determined that he was one of the passengers on the jet, which had arrived from the Azerbaijani capital Baku.

According to French authorities, the investigation is ongoing, so it is not allowed to share information regarding the businessman’s arrest.

The arrest warrant for Durov came from OFMIN, France’s agency for preventing violence against minors. Telegram is being investigated for a variety of violations, including fraud, drug trafficking, cyberbullying, organized crime and promoting terrorism. Telegram did not take adequate measures to mitigate these crimes.