Expert Discusses the Consequences of Durov's Arrest

Since the arrest of Telegram founder Pavel Durov, discussions among users of the app have intensified, with many deleting their messages and even their accounts.

What can we expect from Durov's arrest? Is there any point in deleting messages, or can deleting them provide a sense of security? To address these questions, MediaHub spoke with cybersecurity expert Samvel Martirosyan.

“Telegram already possesses inherent dangers, regardless of Durov’s arrest. The issue is that people believe ‘by default’ that Telegram is very secure, but they are unaware that strong encryption is only implemented if users enable secret chats. In other cases, the encryption typically does not prevent interception, for instance, by special services,” said Martirosyan.

Of course, special services may not be able to intercept communications, but according to Martirosyan, Telegram may still access chats. As a consequence of the arrest, some countries may find it easier to obtain data from Telegram.

“No matter how much people delete their chats, they are only deleting them from their devices, not from Telegram's servers. And as far as I know, secret chats are not deleted either,” stated the expert.