Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - Post ministry: Use Telegram with care

Post ministry: Use Telegram with care

Content image - Phnom Penh Post
The picture shows an illustration of the Telegram messenger application on a smartphone. AFP

Post ministry: Use Telegram with care

The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications urged the public to be on guard when using the popular messaging app Telegram.

In a December 16 notification, the ministry said hackers have been infecting people’s devices with viruses by impersonating prominent individuals such as politicians or celebrities.

The hackers are creating false identities and using famous names in order to send people messages attached with documents, files, and images that are contaminated with virus programmes, which launch when the attached files are opened, tapped or selected.

Once the virus has been activated on a person’s device, the hacker can then gain full access to the device’s entire contents and administrator level control over its functions.

This allows them to steal any data present on the device or that is accessible to the device but stored online. It also gives them the ability to remotely turn on the device’s cameras and microphones for spying purposes.

The notification said these attacks have been happening with increasing frequency.

The ministry’s Cambodia Computer Emergency Response Team (CamCERT) said that in order to avoid falling victim to this hack, all Telegram users need to verify the identity of the account holder before opening any attached file and to carefully examine the accounts of anyone who sends them messages. When in doubt, delete the suspicious attached files without opening them and block the sender.

“Users have to be careful. If you have doubts or if they have never messaged you before, ask them for verification by calling them on the phone or through some other method of communication in order to confirm that it was really someone you know who messaged you,” he said.

The CamCERT said Telegram users can change their in-app settings to make the app safer to use, particularly those listed under Privacy & Security.

Hackers will also sometimes claim to be technicians or customer service agents or app developers in order to lower users’ guard. Some use provocative or pornographic material such as videos or images in order to get people to open those files, consequently infecting their device with a virus at the same time.

Attacks of this nature have long been a hazard associated with email attachments like PDF files, but in recent years similar hacks have been engineered to take over mobile devices specifically and hackers have deployed them on all of the major messaging platforms with varying degrees of success at this point, including WhatsApp, Viber, WeChat, Messenger and a host of others.

The Ministry of Interior’s Anti-Cybercrime Department director Chea Pov has assigned officials to search for and identify any offenders in Cambodia using these hacks so that they may be brought to justice. He said that in the past there had been a few cases in Cambodia, but not many.

“These crimes frequently happened in other countries, but in Cambodia apps like Telegram had never been that popular until recently. Over the last two months, the number of incidents has greatly increased here,” he said.

Pov added that the department is now tracking these cases more closely. He urged the public to be careful in how they use technology and learn how to defend their devices from hackers to avoid being scammed or cheated.

“Please don’t click on random links or doubtful documents in your email inbox or on social networks or apps such as Telegram. Take precautions to avoid uploading or installing contaminated documents or files.

MOST VIEWED

  • Joy as Koh Ker Temple registered by UNESCO

    Cambodia's Koh Ker Temple archaeological site has been officially added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List, during the 45th session of the World Heritage Committee held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on September 17. The ancient temple, also known as Lingapura or Chok Gargyar, is located in

  • Famed US collector family return artefacts to Cambodia

    In the latest repatriation of ancient artefacts from the US, a total of 33 pieces of Khmer cultural heritage will soon return home, according to the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts. In a September 12 press statement, it said the US Attorney’s Office for the

  • Tina rebuffs ‘false claims’ over falling paddy price

    Agriculture minister Dith Tina has shed light on the trade of paddy rice in Battambang – Cambodia’s leading rice-producing province – in a bid to curb what he dubs a “social media fact distortion campaign” to destabilise the market. While acknowledging that the prices of paddy

  • Kampot curfew imposed to curb ‘gang’ violence

    Kampot provincial police have announced measures to contain a recent spike in antisocial behaviour by “unruly’ youth. Officials say the province has been plagued by recent violence among so-called “gang members”, who often fight with weapons such as knives and machetes. Several social observers have

  • Cambodia set to celebrate Koh Ker UNESCO listing

    To celebrate the inscription of the Koh Ker archaeological site on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, the Ministry of Cults and Religion has appealed to pagodas and places of worship to celebrate the achievement by ringing bells, shaking rattles and banging gongs on September 20. Venerable

  • PM outlines plans to discuss trade, policy during US visit

    Prime Minister Hun Manet is set to meet with senior US officials and business leaders during his upcoming visit to the US for the UN General Assembly (UNGA), scheduled for September 20. While addressing nearly 20,000 workers in Kampong Speu province, Manet said he aims to affirm