Telegram, Durov, Putin
Fig. 1: The Internets Reaction. Taken from a US plane parked over the 'stans.
Edit, backstory and context:
In what is likely to be the juiciest cryptography, intelligence, and counter intelligence stories since Snowden, here is what we know about the arrest of Durov in Paris, France.
Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of Telegram, was arrested in Paris on August 24, 2024, as part of a judicial investigation into alleged criminal activities on the messaging platform. The investigation, initiated by the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office on July 8, involves 12 charges against Durov, including facilitating drug trafficking, money laundering, and the distribution of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), as well as refusing to cooperate with law enforcement and violating cryptographic regulations. However, this rabbit hole, as The Monarch from the television cartoon show, “The Venture Bros.” say goes “Deeper. Muuuch deeper.”
Durov has both criticized Putin, and sent pictures of himself flipping the bird to Putin
Telegram communication is not encrypted by default
Telegram group chats cannot be easily, reliably encrypted end-to-end. Unless you were already using PGP/GPG with shared secrets.
The entirety of the Russian military and intelligence apparatus, the Russian media, and the equivalent of the Russian State department relied on Telegram for communications
Directly before Durov arrived in France—he holds French citizenship—he was in Azerbaijan, along with Putin. Putin declined a request from Durov for a meeting.
Durov flew in his private jet from Azerbaijan directly to Paris.
Durov was immediately detained.
“Durov was detained at Le Bourget Airport near Paris after arriving from Azerbaijan. He holds citizenship in Russia, France, the United Arab Emirates, and the Caribbean nation of St. Kitts and Nevis. The exact reason for his visit to Paris is not specified in the available sources, but it is clear that his arrest is related to the ongoing investigation into Telegram’s activities.”
“There is no indication that Durov is handing over Russian secrets to the French government. Instead, the focus of the investigation is on Telegram’s content moderation practices and its alleged role in facilitating criminal activities. Durov has maintained that Telegram complies with EU regulations and that its content moderation practices are in line with industry standards and continually improving”
At first glance I thought this was the most epic OPSEC fail of all time. Now… I think it is something more calculated. I don’t have any more proof than anyone else, but the Telegram saga has officially jumped the Shark from, Uh Oh, to Oh, My.
Fig. 2: My actual reaction
