Dozens of chat accounts of Telegram in Iran have been compromised by hackers.
According to The Verge, Telegram has tens of millions of accounts in Iran, being one of the most popular chat applications in the country. Reuters reports that, according to security researchers Claudio Guarnieri and Collin Anderson, an SMS redirection hack has compromised dozen of Iranian Telegram accounts.
Once performed, the SMS redirection hack allows attackers to gain full access to a Telegram account, giving them the possibility to read contact lists and archived messages. Rather than targeting the encryption that protects the chat messages, the hack works by targeting Telegram's account security.
A new device is confirmed through a one-time SMS message when a user adds it to their Telegram account. The account can be cloned to a hostile device in case that the SMS is intercepted by an attacker. In this case, the hacker can access the chat messages between two Telegram accounts even if the end-to-end encrypted chats will not be accessible on the new device.
An additional password can be added by Telegram users to the process, but usually, this kind of extra precaution is rare. Most Telegram accounts can be cloned effectively by anyone who controls phone company networks, as a result.
The researchers said that in Iran, that power has apparently been used against journalists, activists, and civil society groups. They have all been targeted with the apparent cooperation of the state-controlled telecoms. Many of the attacks have been directed against the targets by the Iranian national law enforcement, prior to their arrest.
According to Engadget, Telegram prides itself on secure private messaging that allows activists to escape government crackdowns and censorship. However, the new discovery shows that the messaging app might be in a crisis in Iran. Telegram's secure messaging is compromised by the attacks of Iranian hackers and this breach in security could put at risk journalists and political activists.
