Employees of government agencies, the military, employees of the security and defense sector, as well as critical infrastructure operators, have been banned from using the Telegram Internet messenger on official devices.
The press service of the National Security and Defense Council reported this today, September 20.
Yesterday, September 19, the heads of the State Special Communications Service, the police, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine, the Ministry of Defense, the National Bank of Ukraine, the Ministry of Digital Development, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, intelligence agencies, regulatory bodies in the field of electronic communications, as well as people’s deputies took part in a meeting of the National Coordination Center for Cybersecurity. threats to national security associated with the use of the Telegram messenger. In particular:
- Head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Kirill Budanov provided substantiated data on the Russian special services having access to the personal correspondence of Telegram users, even deleted messages, as well as their personal data;
- Representatives of the SBU and the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine noted that Telegram is actively used by the enemy for cyberattacks, distributing phishing and malware, establishing the geolocation of users, adjusting missile strikes, etc.
In order to minimize these threats, a decision was made:
- to prohibit the installation and use of Telegram on official devices of employees of government agencies, military personnel, employees of the security and defense sector, as well as enterprises operating critical infrastructure;
- The only exception will be those persons for whom the use of this messenger is part of their job responsibilities.
Source: Racurs
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