Ukraine Prohibits Telegram Use Among Government and Military Staff
September 21, 2024
National Security / Cybersecurity
Ukraine has banned the use of the Telegram messaging app by government officials, military staff, and personnel involved in defense and critical infrastructure, citing national security reasons. The announcement was made by the National Coordination Centre for Cybersecurity (NCCC) via a Facebook post. Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence agency, emphasized, “While I support freedom of speech, the issue regarding Telegram transcends that; it is fundamentally a matter of national security.” The National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) noted that Telegram is “actively exploited by adversaries” for cyber attacks, disseminating phishing messages and malware, monitoring users’ locations, and collecting intelligence to assist Russian military operations against Ukrainian targets. Consequently, the use of Telegram is now prohibited on official devices for government employees.