The Telegram messaging app has a reputation for security, and its secretive founder Pavel Durov promotes himself as a free speech champion. But OCCRP’s Russian member center Important Stories found that its technical infrastructure is run by a man whose companies closely collaborate with Russian intelligence services https://lnkd.in/emk3nPHG Control of Telegram’s servers is critically important, as the messaging app’s protocol makes it possible to identify users’ devices and their rough geographic location, even when using “secret chats” with end-to-end encryption. Reporters ran an experiment on Telegram using network traffic analyzer Wireshark — and discovered Telegram’s main provider of servers was a company called Global Network Management (GNM). This company’s owner, a network engineer Vladimir Vedeneev, also founded GlobalNet, a Russian telecoms giant that controls 15,000km infrastructure from Siberia to Western Europe. Its clients include a secretive Russian special service which helped plan the war in Ukraine and a Russian state-owned nuclear research lab. (It also controlled Telegram’s infrastructure until 2020, when GNM took over). Documents from a Florida court case show that Vedeneev is not just a service provider. He also has the power to sign documents as Telegram’s CFO as part of an “informal” unpaid arrangement — and had sole authorized access to a Telegram server room in downtown Miami. After publication Telegram said it operates all servers internally and insisted that “no unauthorized access is possible.” Telegram also claimed it has “never shared personal messages” or “encryption keys” with third parties. GNM, the infrastructure provider named in the report, issued a detailed rebuttal circulated to Russian media outlets. The company denied any involvement in surveillance, dismissed Vedeneev’s role in Telegram as purely nominal, and threatened legal action against journalists.
The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project
Online Audio and Video Media
Equipping a global network of investigative reporters & publishing their stories so the public can hold power to account
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The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) is a nonprofit investigative news reporting platform for independent media outlets around the world, publishing more than 100 investigations a year. By developing and equipping a global network of investigative journalists and publishing their stories, OCCRP exposes crime and corruption so the public can hold power to account. OCCRP was founded in 2006 by veteran investigative journalists Paul Radu and Drew Sullivan after they partnered with a number of media outlets in several countries to pursue an investigation. Our follow-the-money journalism is cross-border, collaborative, and networked. In the face of rising costs and growing threats to independent media, OCCRP’s model includes providing a global network of member centers — mostly nonprofit, independent media outlets — with a range of critical resources and tools and allows those covering sensitive topics to work in teams with trusted editors. We also work with more than 40 local, national, and international publishing partners a year reaching millions of readers. We built OCCRP Aleph, an investigative data platform that gives journalists the ability to search and cross-reference more than a billion records to trace criminal connections and patterns and efficiently collaborate across borders. By arming citizens and civil society with information to meaningfully press for justice and change, we envision a world where democracy is strengthened as a result of a more informed citizenry, increased accountability, and sharply higher costs for criminal activity. Sign up for our newsletter to keep up with the latest in global crime and corruption. Subscribe here: bit.ly/2Zd0SI1 To join the fight, become an OCCRP Accomplice and support our work. Donate here: bit.ly/32ERLRD
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External link for The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project
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Employees at The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project
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Anuška Delić
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Editor in Chief | Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project
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Algirdas Lipstas
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Updates
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Paraguayan newspaper Última Hora, one of the most important in the country, dedicates the front page of today's edition to the risk of the personal data of the whole country being exposed. A ransomware group claims to have stolen sensitive information and is demanding $7.4 million by June 13. In an exclusive for OCCRP, we report that Paraguayan authorities have refused to pay https://lnkd.in/e-RSv8br
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This might be a landmark in known cybersecurity incidents today, according to experts. The personal data of every citizen of Paraguay (yes, the whole country!) is threatened to be leaked by cybercriminals. Authorities told OCCRP they will not pay the $7.4 million ransom demanded by June 13. Previously, a team of Paraguayan and American investigators made a statement that the country had been targeted by the “cyber espionage actor Flax Typhoon,” which had links to the Chinese government. Cybersecurity experts from Resecurity noted that Paraguay is the only South American country to recognize the independence of Taiwan. China considers the island nation as its territory, and has carried out a global campaign to convince other governments to do the same. Read more https://lnkd.in/e-RSv8br
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EXCLUSIVE: Cybercriminals are threatening to leak the personal data of every citizen of Paraguay. Authorities say they will not pay the $7.4 million ransom demanded by June 13 https://lnkd.in/e-RSv8br “We have record on EVERY citizen, every person residing in Paraguay,” said the group calling itself Brigada Cyber PMC. The government did not make the threat public. Paraguayan officials denied government systems had been hacked this time around. Instead, they told OCCRP the latest ransom attempt was probably based on data collected from previous attacks.
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EXCLUSIVE: The former governor of Nigeria’s Anambra State — one of the smallest in the country — and his wife shifted ownership of six apartments in Texas worth about $1.8 million a few months after he was arrested on suspicion of misappropriating public funds. While they transferred ownership of six apartments, property records show they still own four https://lnkd.in/eXSU4Z4H Obiano was charged in January 2024 with embezzlement and laundering 4 billion naira (approximately $4.4 million at the time) in state funds. Obiano served as governor of Anambra from 2014 to 2022, and was arrested immediately after leaving office, as he was about to board a flight from Lagos to Houston. There is no indication that any of the U.S. properties were purchased with funds that Nigerian authorities allege were misappropriated. Prior to becoming governor, Obiano worked in the private sector as a banker. His wife told OCCRP via text message that the real estate deals were “private business.”
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The Scripps Howard Journalism Awards, has selected “Spotlight Coverage of Steward Health Care” from Boston Globe Media, with contributions by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, as the winner of the Excellence in Business/Financial Reporting category. A panel of veteran journalists and media leaders selected the winners from nearly 600 entries across 12 categories. Read more: https://lnkd.in/erxmUZxd
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Andrew Tate obtained citizenship from the Pacific nation of Vanuatu around the time of his 2022 arrest in Romania on rape and human trafficking charges, OCCRP has revealed. Tate secured a Vanuatu passport through the country's Development Support Program, which grants citizenship in exchange for a minimum $130,000 investment, according to an official list obtained by Intelligence Online and shared with OCCRP and Public Record. OCCRP Pacific Editor Dan McGarry spoke to ABC News about how it happened. Read full story here https://lnkd.in/eKpjxRt3
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Months before Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev was re-elected in February 2024, authorities launched a crackdown on independent media that rages to this day. Now 28 reporters and media workers are behind bars, while others work in exile. paper trail media in German 👇
Aserbaidschans autoritäre Regierung hat unabhängige Medien im Land quasi ausgelöscht. Doch während Präsident Ilham Alijew kritische Journalisten als Staatsfeinde abstempelt, versuchen diese weiter zu berichten - aus dem Exil oder aus dem Gefängnis. Wichtiger Artikel unseres Netzwerkpartners The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project / Übersetzt von Niklas P. / Mit weiteren Links zu unseren Veröffentlichungen in DER STANDARD & ZDF
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🌎 NEW NEWSLETTER 🌎 The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project has dozens of member centers and partners around the world — so every two weeks we summarize their scoops and investigations in one handy, globetrotting newsletter. Our spotlight story this week focuses on Azerbaijan, where President llham Aliyev’s relentless 18-month crackdown on journalists has eradicated any semblance of independent media in the country. A new OCCRP feature explores the timeline of this crackdown and how critical journalists try to hold power to account from exile — or even from behind bars. Since the run-up to the February 2024 presidential elections, journalists have been targeted with smuggling charges, prison detention, and pro-government media attacks. The “speed and comprehensiveness” of the crackdown is unprecedented since Azerbaijan’s independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, says Rachel Denber of Human Rights Watch. Read this week's edition below 👇 #azerbaijan #pressfreedom #journalism #investigativejournalism
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NEW: Messaging app Telegram has a reputation for security — but Важные истории found that its technical infrastructure is run by a man whose companies closely collaborate with Russian intelligence services. Meet the little-known engineer at the center: https://lnkd.in/emk3nPHG