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Telegram iOS app removed from App Store last week due to child pornography
The encrypted messaging app Telegram was mysteriously removed from Apple's App Store last week for a number of hours. At the time, little was known about the reason why, except that it had to do with "inappropriate content." According to a 9to5Mac report, Apple removed Telegram after the app was found serving up child pornography to users.
A verified email from Phil Schiller details that Apple was alerted to child pornography in the Telegram app, immediately verified the existence of the content, and removed the app from its online stores. Apple then notified Telegram and the authorities, including the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Telegram apps were only allowed to be restored to the App Store after Telegram removed the inappropriate content and reportedly banned the users who posted it.
[...] Since Telegram is a messaging app with end-to-end encryption, it's unlikely that the content in question originated from direct messages between users. It's possible that the child pornography came from a Telegram plugin, but neither Apple nor Telegram has revealed the source of the inappropriate content.
Telegram is an instant messaging service with at least 100 million monthly active users.
Also at The Verge and Apple Insider.
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(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday February 07 2018, @10:11AM
Someone shared a public key, that enabled decryption? Or, someone accidentally published a private key? It isn't terribly unusual for someone to misconfigure a client. I'm not defending either Telegram or apple here, I'm just offering alternative scenarios in which the public might be decrypting an encrypted file.
They also blame a plugin that can be installed in Telegram, without naming that plugin. It seems reasonable that the plugin was implemented in some stupid manner that defeated encryption. Or, that the content was intentionally served to all users who had installed the plugin.
Without more details, we can only speculate about the security of Telegram, and it's plugins.