Putting this new report aside, you don’t need to rush to switch from WhatsApp over this year’s privacy backlash-nothing material has changed. Telegram's security model has received multiple criticisms by many cryptologists in the past.” “Use Signal,” Mishra confirms, telling me that “Signal REDACTs sensitive endpoints-sessionID, attachementDownloads etc-keeping all this in mind, Signal textsecure protocol is better than Telegram and WhatsApp.”Īs for those of you determined to stick with Telegram, Mishra advises you to “delete all your ‘Cloud Drafts’ under ‘Privacy and Security’ and limit your conversations.” In his view, “handling user privacy/data should not be that hard. The quality of Telegram’s e2ee can be improved.” And so, for the tens of millions of WhatsApp users making or contemplating that switch, the decision has suddenly become much easier-only Signal is the genuinely better alternative. Mishra says that “in the past, I've identified many other vulnerabilities in Telegram, which leaks sensitive information even with e2ee secret chat technology. According to its founder Pavel Durov, “Telegram became the most downloaded mobile app in the world in January 2021.” Where those users are ditching WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption for Telegram’s cloud-based solution, this is a backward move. The secret chat vulnerability is yet further evidence that switching from WhatsApp to Telegram, with its lack of support for default end-to-end encryption, is a bad idea. The fact these issues have been disclosed and patched is beside the point.

Mishra says that Telegram patched both these issues with version 7.4, and paid him a bounty-the platform has not yet responded to my request for comment.

Telegram instant messaging