Telegram is a Russian platform with a user base of around 300 million. If you’re not familiar with it, you might have some questions about it. What is Telegram? Is it encrypted? How secure is its privacy policy? And most importantly, is Telegram secure?
I’ll answer all those questions and more in the following lines.
What is Telegram?
Table of Contents
Telegram is a cloud-based instant messaging app that was launched back in 2013 by Russian brothers Pavel and Nikolai Durov, who also created the social networking platform VK (formerly VKontakte). The app has end-to-end encryption for secret chats, as well as regular chats that are encrypted in the Telegram Cloud. It is available on multiple mobile and desktop operating systems, including iOS, macOS, Android, Windows Phone, Windows, and Linux.
Telegram is a cloud-based instant messaging app launched in 2013 by Pavel and Nikolai Durov, two Russian brothers best known for creating the social networking platform VK (formerly VKontakte). Telegram offers a secret chat option with end-to-end encryption, as well as a regular chat variant encrypted in the Telegram Cloud. The app is available on multiple mobile and desktop operating systems, including iOS, macOS, Android, Windows Phone, Windows, and Linux.
While Telegram’s popularity among millennials and Gen Z users is one of its key features that sets it apart from the competition, there are other reasons why my friends and I prefer to use it over other instant messaging apps. In addition to the fact that Telegram is more secure than (Mark Zuckerberg-owned) alternatives like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger, it’s also more user-friendly and offers a better overall experience.
Though you might think that Telegram is less secure than WhatsApp because it doesn’t use end-to-end encryption for all chats, that isn’t necessarily the case. In fact, Telegram’s popularity may be due in part to its MTProto Mobile Protocol. I’ll discuss the protocol in more detail below, including how it contributes to Telegram’s encryption process.
Is Telegram Encrypted?
Telegram’s encryption is based on 2048-bit RSA, 256-bit symmetric AES, and Diffie–Hellman secure key exchange. As mentioned in the app’s FAQ section for technically inclined individuals, Telegram provides two layers of secure encryption for private and group chats. The first layer is server to client encryption, while the second layer is client to client encryption. This means that every bit of data – including text, files, and media – is encrypted equally.
It’s important to remember that MTProto applies to standard cloud chats on mobile devices only, and that end-to-end decryption is not enabled by default. This is a notable security concern when it comes to Telegram, and something I’ll get into more detail later on in this article.
If you’re interested in learning more about how these methods work from a technical standpoint, take a look at the image attached below. You can find it in Telegram’s official FAQ section, along with a detailed description of all the terminology used.
