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Ukraine has banned military personnel, senior state officials, employees of defense companies and critical infrastructure facilities from installing or using the Telegram messaging service on official devices for “security” reasons.
The Ukrainian parliament said in a statement on Friday that the decision was taken by the Cybersecurity Coordination Center of the National Security and Defense Council.
Individuals whose duties require communication via Telegram are exempt from this guidance.
The directive primarily concerns computers used at work, said Andrei Kovalenko, head of the National Security and Defense Council’s Center for Combating Disinformation.
He added that the directive does not include private mobile phones.
The Ukrainian intelligence service and the Ukrainian General Staff have long warned that Russian agencies are using Telegram to launch cyberattacks, hack information, smuggle malware, and even locate devices, which then become easy targets for missile attacks.
