Fake news, hacks against Russia and false donations: this is how the war is lived on Telegram

Disinformation has always been a weapon of war, and in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine we are seeing enormous activity online. Including many initiatives in groups and Telegram channels , some of them praiseworthy, but others that are scams or spread false information (fake news).

We are talking about the fact that the Telegram groups have multiplied by 6 since the beginning of the invasion , and already in the previous hostilities they were on the rise. The announcement of Ukraine’s computer army only increased interest in the “digital front” of the war.

The security firm Check Point estimates that 23% of the groups focus on hacking, where actions against Russia are coordinated . Ukraine also suffers from computer attacks, but let’s remember that Telegram has a difficult relationship with the Russian regime.

Imagen - Ciberguerra contra Rusia en Telegram: así funciona

In these channels there are thousands of users who try to block Russian websites, using denial of service (DDoS) attacks , where a high number of simultaneous connections make them stop working. The same procedures are even carried out with calls from you and SMS.

Tech-savvy users tend to gather in these groups, but we must remember that it is important to avoid accessing unknown websites or downloading programs. Although widespread malicious activity against group members has not been detected, there is always a risk.

More than 70% of the channels focus on news about Russia’s war against Ukraine , and here we find very diverse content. In some cases, they allow first-hand information to be collected from the invaded places, avoiding any type of censorship.

Unfortunately, there is also no lack of fake news, manipulation and news shared without any type of verification by the administrators. Depending on the channel, the risk of misinformation is considerable.

Imagen - Ciberguerra contra Rusia en Telegram: así funciona

Therefore, we must be critical of this news, and we will also avoid clicking on links outside of Telegram, which could take us to unsafe sites.

Finally, we have a small number of groups that collect donations for the Ukraine , and they are very suspicious. They usually ask for payments in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, which are very difficult to trace , so the risk of fraud is high.

If we want to collaborate with Ukraine, we must look for well-known entities in our country, because from Telegram it becomes almost impossible to know how the money will be used.

Imagen - Ciberguerra contra Rusia en Telegram: así funciona

Let’s remember that Telegram is an app founded by the Russians Pável and Nikolai Dúrov . Pavel Durov left the country in 2014, when he determined that it could not offer the privacy and security he wanted under Vladimir Putin’s rule.

In fact, we can rule out that Russia is dedicated to spying on Telegram, because there are no links between the country and the developers, quite the opposite.

It is not the first time that Telegram has been used in situations of war or social unrest, because it makes state control very difficult, but it has also been criticized for not controlling illegal activities on the platform.

In short, Telegram has become one more battlefield for the Russian invasion of Ukraine , and we must be aware of the dangers this poses for users who get involved.