I would be highly skeptical about Telegram as well. If I would need to select either Whatsapp or Telegram, Whatsapp would be really easy choice for me, considering the background of Durov. For some reason, Telegram is extremely popular in Russia and still has managed to avoid goverment bans.
Telegram isn't even encrypted, at least not in the sense of the on-by-default end-to-end encryption used by WhatsApp, iMessage and Signal. In reality its selling point is that your chat records are placed in foreign jurisdictions so your local police can't easily access them.
Ultimately the only way to be completely sure is to use an open-source app like Signal that you've either built yourself from source you've inspected; or sourced pre-built from someone you trust.
I suppose he may be correct but he also has a stake in the game since he made telegram. Or maybe his brother made it and he’s the face of it. I dunno. There’s always drama about something on the Russian Internet.
He offers no proof, just “trust me bro”. If they actually had found flaws, they would’ve reported them. WhatsApp uses the Signal protocol, which is built by actual cryptographers using proper formal proofs. In contrast, MTProto is not designed from a formal cryptographic approach and is described by cryptographers as “brittle”. https://martinralbrecht.wordpress.com/2025/03/16/analysis-of...
Telegram also has no public security or cryptographic assessments, while meanwhile WhatsApp has had numerous components analyzed by cryptographers for security.
This is really funny coming from Durov, CEO of an IM app that doesn't even have E2EE on by default (or even available for group chats). Both WhatsApp and Telegram are terrible choices.
[+] [-] kepponen|1 month ago|reply
[+] [-] budgefrankly|1 month ago|reply
https://blog.cryptographyengineering.com/2024/08/25/telegram...
Ultimately the only way to be completely sure is to use an open-source app like Signal that you've either built yourself from source you've inspected; or sourced pre-built from someone you trust.
[+] [-] atmanactive|1 month ago|reply
[+] [-] mnky9800n|1 month ago|reply
[+] [-] mnky9800n|1 month ago|reply
[+] [-] 0xy|1 month ago|reply
If neither of you have done this, don't worry the client side code is so sloppy there will be a zero click RCE that can steal all your chats anyway.
[+] [-] phyrex|1 month ago|reply
[+] [-] Saris|1 month ago|reply
[+] [-] vrighter|1 month ago|reply
[+] [-] evan_a_a|1 month ago|reply
Telegram also has no public security or cryptographic assessments, while meanwhile WhatsApp has had numerous components analyzed by cryptographers for security.
https://www.nccgroup.com/research-blog/public-report-whatsap... https://www.nccgroup.com/research-blog/public-report-whatsap... https://www.nccgroup.com/research-blog/public-report-whatsap... https://www.nccgroup.com/research-blog/public-report-whatsap... https://www.nccgroup.com/research-blog/public-report-meta-wh...
[+] [-] bramhaag|1 month ago|reply