Quantum
Computing
Generative
AI & LLMs
Drones
Satellite
Comms
Group
Messaging
Platforms
Crypto-
currency
IoT
Devices
Metaverse
Social Media
Incitement
5
Findings from Cognyte’s cyber research team illustrate the migration of criminals
to messaging platforms. The number of cyber-crime related messages in
Telegram exploded from 27 million in 2019 to almost 2 billion in 2022, while
the volume of such messages in Dark Web forums declined 54% to roughly 101
million during the same period.
The migration of bad actors to group messaging apps has created challenges
for authorities attempting to keep up with the scope and scale of criminal and
extremist activity on these platforms. Criminals frequently close groups and
servers and open new ones, requiring investigators to keep up. It’s harder to
search and find Telegram groups and channels and Discord servers associated
with illicit activity, compared to platforms like Facebook and X. For example, the
search capability on Discord is limited, a user
needs to obtain the direct link to a server in
order to join it. In addition, Telegram and
Discord gather less user data compared to
traditional social media platforms.
For example, Discord does not require
a user’s phone number to open an
account. These conditions make it
harder for law enforcement to
track and monitor illegal
activity and discover the
real identities of criminals.
Time till mainstream adoption: TODAY
Technology capabilities needed:
2019
27M
219M
202M 160M
101M
1,569M
1,915M
342M
2020 2021 2022
Telegram
Dark Web
5
Number of Messages & Posts Related to Cyber-Crime
Source: Cognyte Cyber Research Team
Responsible AI
Human-Machine
Collaboration
Video
Analytics
Group
Messaging
Platforms