The Rise of Cybercrime on Telegram and Discord and the Need for Continuous Monitoring

This report explains how cybercriminals increasingly misuse instant messaging platforms—particularly Telegram and Discord—to build communities, advertise and transact in exploits, stolen databases, credit cards and loyalty points, DDoS botnets, and hacking tools (e.g., OpenBullet), leveraging features like end-to-end encryption, anonymous usernames, large groups/channels, and bots to operate at scale and speed; it emphasizes the need for real-time monitoring across social media, dark web markets, and messaging ecosystems to detect and mitigate emerging risks, highlighting CloudSEK’s XVigil as a solution.