The appeal of technology to promote terrorist activities is stronger than ever. Nowadays, it is the power of encrypted apps which jihadists prefer using for their communications. And the most notable of these apps is called “Telegram.”
The Berlin-based app promises to be “faster and more secure” than its biggest competitor WhatsApp, a Facebook-owned venture. And, indeed, there are quite a few features that make Telegram the choice for ISIS jihadists.
Like WhatsApp, Telegram allows secure messaging between friends and the capacity to send pictures and files. Groups within Telegram can also go up to 200 members and there is even an option for “special secret chats” that makes messages, photos, videos self-destruct, CNN Money reported.
The app has “channels” that are used for a variety of topics. It was on the official ISIS channel where the Paris attacks were also initially announced, saying that they would be the “first of the storm.” It was also over Telegram where the group claimed responsibility for the downed Russian airplane on October 31.
"A lot of people are now seeing Telegram advertised on ISIS supporter Twitter accounts," said Laith Alkhouri, director of research at Flashpoint Global Partners. Telegram is also used to crowdsource funding for weapons.
On certain jihadist-related channels, users get to control where their contributions will go. "You can choose whether to donate your money to an AK-47," Alkhouri said.
Telegram creator Pavel Durov, also known as “the Mark Zuckerberg of Russia,” launched the app in 2013 but has since fled his native Russia after refusing to hand over user data of Vkontakte, a social network, to the government.
The creation of apps like Telegram come as reactions to privacy concerns with big Internet companies like Facebook and Google, according to the company website. As for law enforcement, former CIA deputy director Michael Morell was quoted by Ars Technica saying,
"I think what we're going to learn is that these guys are communicating via these encrypted apps, this commercial encryption which is very difficult or nearly impossible for governments to break, and the producers of which don't produce the keys necessary for law enforcement to read the encrypted messages."
