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The popular messaging app Telegram can leak out your IP name and address if you merely contribute a drudge to your contacts and accept a speech sound call from them .
Denis Simonov , a certificate research worker , who is also known as n0a , recently highlighted the issue andwrote a simple creature to overwork it . TechCrunch verify the researcher ’s findings by tot Simonov to the contact of a newly create Telegram account . Simonov then called the chronicle , and shortly after provided TechCrunch with the IP address of the computer where the experimentation was being carried out .
Telegram boasts 700 million user all over the world , and has always marketed itself as a “ inviolable ” and “ secret ” message app , even though experts haverepeatedlywarnedthat Telegram is not as secure as end - to - terminal cypher app Signal , for instance .
The fact that Telegram leak your IP address to people in your impinging during a voice callhas been known for years , but it ’s likely that new , less technical users may not be aware .
Simonov , who works for the cybersecurity firmT.Hunter , told TechCrunch : “ Telegram concenter on protection and privateness , however , so as to remain dependable you need to be aware of the nuances of how the messenger ’s part calls work . ”
“ An unprepared person can easily reveal his IP speech to his interlocutor if he does not know about them , ” Simonov sound out .
The rationality Telegram leak a user ’s IP address during a call is that , by default , Telegram use a equal - to - compeer connection between caller “ for effective quality and rock-bottom latent period , ” Telegram spokesperson Remi Vaughn severalize TechCrunch .
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“ The downside of this is that it necessitates that both side know the IP address of the other ( since it is a lineal link ) . Unlike on other messengers , calls from those who are not your impinging list will be rout through Telegram ’s host to obscure that , ” Vaughn said .
To void leaking your IP address , you have to go to Telegram ’s options > Privacy and Security > Calls , and then select “ Never ” in the Peer - to - Peer carte du jour , as shown below .
Other messaging and calling apps have been launch to leak IP addresses as well . In 2017 , a researcher found thatWhatsApp was leaking metadatain a way that could allow hacker to recover a user ’s IP name and address . In August,404 Media reported that hackers could reveal the IP addressof someone on Skype with no interaction .
Microsoft at the time enjoin it would define the vulnerability . Telegram , on the other hand , clearly think this is just how the app should work .
Correction : a previous version of this clause describe Simonov as the founder of cybersecurity firm T.Hunter . He is actually an employee , not the founding father .
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