«We need to carry out 'educational' work, not blatantly ban it.» We figured out whether government agencies in Ukraine are refusing Telegram, what will happen instead, and whether it is possible to ban it altogether

What is known about the ban

The NCSC statement states that the ban will also apply to military personnel, employees of the security and defense sector, and enterprises that are operators of critical infrastructure. The only exceptions will be those individuals for whom using this messenger is part of their official duties.

However, at the same time, the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksandr Lytvynenko, reported that the NCSC decision is of a recommendatory nature for the Government and does not apply to the official Telegram channels of state authorities.

In early October, the use of Telegram was restricted in the Verkhovna Rada. To minimize the risks of cyber threats associated with the messenger, all employees of the Rada’s staff are prohibited from transmitting data and using Telegram in official communication. This applies to both mobile devices and personal and official computers. If it is necessary to work with the messenger for official purposes, you must submit a corresponding letter.

Regional military administrations were the next to start restricting Telegram in the work of civil servants. In mid-October, it became known that the Lviv OVA banned the messenger on official devices. All devices were checked for the presence of the installed application, and explanatory work was carried out with employees. However, the ban does not apply to official Telegram channels for communication with the public.

Львівська ОВА заборонила Telegram на службових пристроях

On this topic

Львівська ОВА заборонила Telegram на службових пристроях

What is really happening: is it being banned or is it just being advised?

In universities

At KAI, the teaching staff can use Telegram. Kseniya Semenova reported this in a comment for dev.ua. «But we strongly advise against doing so,» she emphasizes. At the university level, the web version of the messenger is blocked on work computers. But, as the acting rector noted, blocking at the institution level does not solve the situation, because everyone has a personal mobile phone where the application can be downloaded.

In particular, there is no total ban at the university — there is a decision not to discuss work moments on Telegram. Semenova emphasizes that none of the employees should discuss projects, partners, etc. on Telegram, because some of them are companies that work with defense technologies and, accordingly, sensitive information. According to her, the MES recommendation was about this, and the KAI is reacting very calmly to the ban.

As for students, since Telegram is not banned at the state level, the university cannot and should not prohibit students from using messengers, Semenova notes. «In addition, you need to understand that students, unlike the administrative staff, do not have access to sensitive information,» she adds.

In addition to the Kyiv Aviation Institute, other educational institutions reported the Telegram ban, including Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University, Ivan Franko Lviv National University, Ukrainian Catholic University, Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University, and Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. We contacted the institutions for clarification, but not all of them responded.

At UCU, for example, information security is considered extremely important. That is why, as confirmed by the university, in accordance with the order of UCU Rector Taras Dobko, in order to ensure data security and minimize hybrid cyber threats, the university called for limiting the use of the Telegram messenger for official UCU communication with applicants, students, graduates, and employees.

Heads of departments, in turn, will conduct explanatory work with employees on the need to stop using the Telegram messenger for official university communication. Therefore, from February 1, 2025, the university expects that all departments will take care of transferring work chats to Google, and official communication chats from Telegram to other secure resources. Consultations on this issue are being conducted by the Digital Transformation Office.

The university community understands and supports this decision and is ready to switch to alternative communication channels and services.

The use of the Telegram messenger is also blocked in the internal and network of Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University, which makes it impossible to use it on official computers. The university reported that the ban applies to employees in terms of transmitting information used in the work of the institution, as well as communications for official purposes. Vice-rector for Scientific and Pedagogical Work and Digital Transformation Andriy Verstyak noted that no sociological research has been conducted on the attitude of employees to the Telegram ban at ChNU. «No complaints have been received on this matter,» he added.

UPD. В університетах України блокують Telegram: спочатку месенджер заборонили НАУ та КНУ. Хто ще приєднався до столичних вишів

On this topic

UPD. В університетах України блокують Telegram: спочатку месенджер заборонили НАУ та КНУ. Хто ще приєднався до столичних вишів

In state institutions

One of the first, after the announcement of the blocking of the Telegram messenger in state institutions, was the Lviv OVA, which joined the initiative. The question arises whether other state structures use the messenger. dev.ua received a response from four out of eight state institutions surveyed.

Referring to the decision of the National Coordination Center for Cybersecurity of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, the following were reported about the restriction on the use of Telegram:

• The State Border Service of Ukraine — here the ban affected all bodies of the institution. However, the service noted that communication for official purposes is limited (prohibited) when using the Telegram messenger, with the exception of persons whose official duties include its direct use. «The State Border Service of Ukraine prohibits the use of online video conferencing services and general-purpose software applications for the transmission of any information related to state information resources,» said Volodymyr Nikiforenko, First Deputy Head of the State Border Service of Ukraine.
• The State Statistics Service has taken organizational and technical measures to prohibit employees of state statistics bodies from installing and using the Telegram messenger on official computers (devices), as well as prohibiting its use for communication for official purposes. The above restrictions apply to all employees of state statistics bodies, there are no exceptions, said Olena Vyshnevska, Director of the Department of Information Dissemination and Communications.
• The municipal enterprise «Center for Road Traffic Organization» (CTR), which belongs to the sphere of management of the executive body — Kyiv City Council (Kyiv City State Administration) and is subordinate to the Department of Transport Infrastructure of the executive body of the Kyiv City Council (Kyiv City State Administration), has banned the use of the specified messenger for communication for official purposes. The only exception, as noted by the head of the communications department Tetyana Pavlenko, is the enterprise’s communications department, which is granted permission to provide information about the breakdown and restoration of traffic light facilities, which has an impact on the organization of road traffic in the city of Kyiv.
• The State Geocadastre has imposed a ban on the installation and use of Telegram for employees of the apparatus, territorial bodies and state enterprises that belong to the sphere of management of the State Geocadastre. According to reports from territorial bodies of the State Geocadastre and state enterprises under the jurisdiction of the State Geocadastre on the implementation of the NCCC decision, as reported by the institution, the use of the client part of the software and the web version of Telegram on the work computers of all employees has been blocked using the software and hardware of the information and communication systems of the relevant territorial bodies and state enterprises, and employees have been informed of the possible risks of using the Telegram messenger.

Попереду МЗС чи Мінцифри. Як використовують штучний інтелект у міністерствах і які інструменти вже доступні

On this topic

Попереду МЗС чи Мінцифри. Як використовують штучний інтелект у міністерствах і які інструменти вже доступні

In ministries

10 out of 19 surveyed ministries operating in Ukraine confirmed that the NCCC decision to ban Telegram also applies to them:

• Ministry of Reintegration — applies to all structural units of the ministry, in particular, the use of the messenger for the purpose of transmitting information used in work, as well as communications for official purposes, as well as the installation and use of the Telegram client and/or web version on official computers of employees of the Ministry of Reintegration.
• The Ministry of Communities and Territories — banned the installation and use of Telegram on official devices and additionally restricted access to Telegram from the ministry’s corporate network.
• The Ministry of Veterans Affairs — restricted the use of Telegram on official devices of employees.
• The Ministry of Environment has informed employees about the ban on using Telegram for official communication, with the exception of persons whose official duties include its direct use.
• The Ministry of Finance — in accordance with the instruction of the Deputy Minister of Finance for Digital Development, Digital Transformations and Digitalization O. Grubiyan dated 02.10.2024 No. 50000-02/72, employees of the ministry are prohibited from transmitting information used for official purposes, from communicating for official purposes using the Telegram messenger, and a ban on installing and using the Telegram messenger on official devices has been imposed, and technical measures have been taken to restrict access to the use of this messenger by employees of the Ministry of Finance in the public WiFi wireless network in the ministry.
• The Ministry of Economy has banned the use of Telegram for official communication, including for sending any information used in official activities via the messenger, with the exception of employees of the ministry included in the list of persons who, according to their official duties, are required to use the Telegram messenger in official activities. It is also prohibited to install and use the Telegram messenger client and/or use its web version on official devices, except for official devices of employees of the ministry included in the list of persons.
• The Ministry of Education has sent the above recommendations to institutions, enterprises, institutions and organizations under the management of the Ministry of Education and Science for information purposes, to be taken into account in their work. This applies to the use of the messenger for official communications, with the exception of those employees who need it for their official duties.
• Ministry of Youth and Sports — organizational and technical measures were taken to block Telegram resources and applications in the information and communication system of the ministry. In accordance with the decisions of the
• National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, the restrictions apply to the use of the Telegram messenger only on official devices in state institutions, military formations and at critical infrastructure facilities. The specified restriction does not apply to personal devices of citizens, as well as maintaining official pages in Telegram, if this does not include the transfer of official data.
• The Ministry of Justice — reported that all official communications and document circulation in the ministry are carried out in compliance with information security standards.
• The Ministry of Energy — also noted that it carries out official communications (correspondence and transfer of official information) in compliance with all security requirements.

Володимира Зеленського непокоїть анонімність деяких Telegram-каналів і їхня робота проти України

On this topic

Володимира Зеленського непокоїть анонімність деяких Telegram-каналів і їхня робота проти України

Why do officials still run public channels?

Many departments and institutions in Ukraine have public Telegram channels to cover news. In particular, this applies to individual officials. How will the ban on the messenger affect these tools? According to the answers received, the organization is not going to close its public pages.

In particular, KAI has an official channel on Telegram and, as Ksenia Semenova reported, the university plans to run it for the time being.

According to the acting rector of KAI, this is a public channel, so publicly available information is published there. Semenova added that if Telegram is banned at the state level, of course, they will stop running the channel and close it.

And here is the official page of Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University on Telegram, one of the few that has stopped working. The university informed us that the last message was published on November 19, 2024, and it concerned informing subscribers about the launch of our university’s channel on WhatsApp.

The Ministry of Energy noted that the closure of public Telegram channels is not within the competence of the ministry. As of 20.11.2024, the Telegram channel of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine is also supported and replenished without using the information resources of the ministry and the decision to close it has not been made.

The Ministry of Finance of Ukraine will not stop the functioning of the public Telegram channel and plans to ensure its functioning, taking into account the instructions of the Deputy Minister and the decision of the NCCC. That is, as an exception to the decision on the ban, the Ministry of Finance allowed employees of the Communications Department to disseminate news and other open or previously published information previously posted on the official resources of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine to ensure prompt, transparent and effective communication with the media, the public, business and other interested parties, as reported by the ministry.

Referring to the comment of the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksandr Lytvynenko on the issue of using Telegram, Deputy Minister for Digital Development, Digital Transformations and Digitalization of the Ministry of Reintegration Oleksiy Bruslyk emphasizes that the decision of the National Cybersecurity Coordination Center to ban the use of the specified messenger is of a recommendatory nature for the Government, but does not apply to the official Telegram channels of state authorities.

The above-mentioned restriction does not apply to the functioning of the official Telegram channel of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, as noted by the First Deputy Head of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, Volodymyr Nikiforenko.

However, not all state agencies use Telegram to disseminate public information. The State Statistics Service reported that the agency does not have public channels in the Telegram messenger. The same applies to the State Geocadastre, where the agency’s activities are not covered on Telegram. Today, informing the public on current issues and prospects for the development of relations in the field of national geospatial data infrastructure, topographic, geodetic and cartographic activities, land relations, land management, in the field of the State Land Cadastre, state control over the use and protection of lands of all categories and forms of ownership, and soil fertility is carried out by publishing information materials on the official website of the State Geocadastre, on the State Geocadastre page on the Facebook social network, and the State Geocadastre channel is also maintained on the YouTube platform.

Ярослав Ажнюк: «Кожен з тих 80% українців, у кого на телефоні стоїть російський троянський Telegram, програє цю війну просто через лінь»

On this topic

Ярослав Ажнюк: «Кожен з тих 80% українців, у кого на телефоні стоїть російський троянський Telegram, програє цю війну просто через лінь»

What instead of Telegram

The closure and blocking of Telegram, information about which can be seen from the announcements of ministries, departments and universities, involves a transition to other tools. Which of them did the institutions we surveyed choose?

The use of other messengers by employees of state statistics bodies for purposes other than official ones is not regulated, the State Statistics Service said. At the same time, all employees were provided with recommendations on the need to set up two-factor authentication for their own accounts in social networks, messengers and mail services and on compliance with the basic rules of cyber hygiene published on the website of the Governmental Computer Emergency Response Team of Ukraine CERT-UA (Cybersecurity Factor and Basic Rules of Cyber ​​Hygiene).

The State Geocadastre has fundamentally approached the problem. The agency has determined a list of software that is allowed to be used in the information and communication systems of territorial bodies of the State Geocadastre and enterprises that fall under its management. According to the information received by the agency, messengers are not included in this list and attention is drawn to the fact that, in accordance with paragraph 29 of the Standard Instructions for Documenting Management Information in Electronic Form and Organizing Work with Electronic Documents in Office Management, Electronic Interdepartmental Exchange, approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated January 17, 2018 No. 55, information exchange between employees of institutions is carried out only using their own email services. Accordingly, there is no need to install mobile messenger applications on work computers.

For professional interaction between structural units and employees of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs, it was also decided that the electronic document management system and corporate e-mail, which are already in operation, would be optimal. The Ministry of Economy went further and confirmed that officials would use exclusively e-mail boxes located on servers located in the me.gov.ua domain zone for official correspondence. In particular, as the ministry emphasized, official e-mail cannot be used for purposes not related to the performance of official duties and cannot be used to send information with limited access.

Some ministries and institutions, on the contrary, did not provide employees with recommendations on the use of certain messengers. In particular, this was decided by the Ministry of Reintegration.

The Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, for example, did not migrate from using the Telegram messenger to using other messengers in connection with the decision of the NCCC, referring to exceptions regarding the use of the Telegram messenger, which relate to the performance of official duties of individual employees. In particular, employees of the Department for Digital Development, Digital Transformations and Digitalization monitor Telegram channels of hacker groups in order to respond to cyberattacks in a timely manner.

Universities usually have several channels or information tools for effective communication, dissemination of information about events, activities and exercises taking place, and coverage of important issues that concern every employee, applicant, graduate and student. In particular, instead of Telegram, the Ukrainian Catholic University recommends using alternative resources:

• For internal communication — UCU mail, internal mailing list, Google chat, website, portal.
• For external communication — secure messengers, which ones — the Office of Digital Transformation will help to find out. The official means of communication at the university is corporate mail.

For operational internal communication at UCU, it is recommended to use Google Chat, which works as a built-in component with UCU corporate mail and does not require additional installations. This service allows you to communicate and conduct personal and group chats, organize channels for teamwork, discuss projects and tasks in real time. It integrates with other Google products, such as Google Drive and Google Meet, which allows you to exchange files and organize video meetings directly from the chat. Additional online training and a live meeting will be held on the use of this tool, the university reports.

Google-Chat was also chosen for KAI. As the university reported, instead of Telegram, all employees were offered to switch to Google-Chat, the main working groups were created there, and all official communication was transferred.

Chernivtsi National University approached the problem loyally and offered university employees to independently choose communication channels, taking into account functionality and convenience. As noted in the CNU, after the ban on the use of Telegram, the most common among university employees is the use of Viber and WhatsApp messengers. Vice-rector for Scientific and Pedagogical Work and Digital Transformation Andriy Verstyak added that in a fairly short time all official chats were transferred to WhatsApp and Viber. «We believe that with the Telegram app did not affect the provision of internal communication at Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University,» he emphasized.

11 Ukrainian universities entered the world ranking of the best universities for interdisciplinary scientific research

On this topic

11 Ukrainian universities entered the world ranking of the best universities for interdisciplinary scientific research

And how to block the Telegram giant in general?

However, despite all the attempts and efforts, the question of whether it is possible to completely and completely block Telegram remains open. Three experts and cyber specialists shared their thoughts and observations on the extent to which this is possible both within the framework of an enterprise, institution or organization, and throughout Ukraine.

Another way is to prohibit people from installing any additional software and configure the management of a person’s account through a remote management system for corporate laptops, for example, Microsoft Active Directory or Mobile Device Management (MDM), similar systems from Apple.
It happens that the company that owns the equipment, that is, a laptop or personal computer, can manage any programs that are installed on the computer.

However, blocking the messenger throughout the country if the conditional App Store is against and does not support blocking is almost impossible. This is what we saw in the Russian Federation.

I believe that blocking Telegram for state figures and officials is a relevant and adequate solution to counteract the leakage of information with limited access. However, it should be remembered that in general, there should be no Internet at all on computers on which information is processed, even for official use, that is, with limited access.

That is, when we say that civil servants should be banned from Telegram, we mean banning the use of the messenger on workstations, work computers, work IT systems, even where information with limited access is not processed, in order to counteract the leakage of official information.

I consider these steps adequate and logical. In addition, I emphasize three times — on any computers that process information with limited access in accordance with the norms for the protection of state secrets, there should be no Internet at all.

1. Blocking access to Telegram through the network infrastructure.

This approach is based on restricting access to Telegram through the organization’s network.

1.1. Blocking by URL/IP addresses

Telegram uses a certain pool of IP addresses and domains. You can configure a firewall (e.g. Cisco ASA, Fortinet, pfSense) or network equipment to block:

• Telegram domains ([web.telegram.org](https://web.telegram.org/ «‌»), API domains).
• Known IP addresses of Telegram servers.

Advantages:

• Easy to configure for experienced network administrators.
• An effective way to block access through the corporate network.

Disadvantages:

• Telegram uses dynamic IP addresses and proxy servers, which can make blocking difficult.
• Users can bypass the ban via VPN or mobile internet.

1.2. Using DPI (Deep Packet Inspection)

Modern DPI systems (e.g. Zscaler, Palo Alto Networks, Huawei USG) allow you to analyze traffic and block specific protocols or services.

Advantages:

• The ability to accurately determine Telegram traffic.
• High level of network control.

Disadvantages:

• High cost of hardware and software.
• Requires significant technical knowledge for configuration.

2. Endpoint Control

2.1. Using MDM (Mobile Device Management) solutions

MDM systems (e.g. Microsoft Intune, Jamf, VMware Workspace ONE) allow you to:

• Prohibit the installation of Telegram on devices.
• Block access to Telegram via corporate mobile devices.

Advantages:

• Full control over employee devices.
• Effective method for mobile devices.

Disadvantages:

• Does not apply to employees' personal devices.
• May cause resistance among employees due to interference in private use of devices.

2.2. Control through EDR/PAM systems

EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response, e.g. CrowdStrike, SentinelOne) and PAM (Privileged Access Management, e.g. BeyondTrust) allow you to restrict the launch of applications, including Telegram, on end devices.

Advantages:

• A universal solution for any devices on the network.
• Additional security against unauthorized actions.

Disadvantages:

• High implementation cost.
• Requires centralized management.

3. Using proxy servers or content filters

3.1. Proxy servers

Implementing a proxy server (Squid, Blue Coat) allows you to filter requests to Telegram based on URLs or domains.

Advantages:

• Effectively blocks access through the corporate network.
• Easy to monitor.

Disadvantages:

• Does not block access via third-party networks (mobile Internet, VPN).
• Telegram can use encryption, which makes filtering difficult.

3.2. Content filters

Software solutions such as Barracuda Web Security or Forcepoint allow you to block specific traffic or applications.

Advantages:

• Extensive functionality for monitoring and blocking.
• Possibility of centralized management.

Disadvantages:

• High cost.
• May affect network performance.

4. Organizational measures

Technical measures can be supported by organizational ones:

4.1. Security policies

• Prohibit the use of Telegram on corporate devices.
• Implement Internet usage rules for employees.

4.2. Staff training

Explain the risks of using Telegram, especially for exchanging corporate information.

Advantages:

• Low implementation cost.
• Increases the overall level of security awareness.

Disadvantages:

• Requires regular monitoring of policy implementation.
• Does not prevent use on personal devices.

5. VPN detection and blocking

Since Telegram can use VPNs or proxies to bypass blocks, you can:

• Use DPI to block VPN traffic.
• Block use of public VPN services through IP address filtering.

Advantages:

• Limits attempts to bypass blocks.

Disadvantages:

• Users may find lesser-known or private VPNs.

Recommendations:

• For maximum effectiveness, combine technical and organizational measures.
• Use DPI or content filters for large organizations.
• For smaller organizations or individual networks, you can limit yourself to proxies or URL filtering.

Each method has its own advantages and limitations. The choice depends on the resources of the organization, technical capabilities, and the importance of banning Telegram for the organization.

Technically, it is difficult. The basic technologies of Telegram for bypassing blocking are popularly described on Wikipedia using the example of blocking attempts in Russia:

• Push notifications from Google, Apple and Microsoft servers cannot be blocked without disabling the entire Android, iOS and Windows Phone notification mechanism. This way, Telegram users receive a new list of IP addresses.
• Amazon, Google, DigitalOcean hosting companies massively use tools for instant replacement of IPv4 addresses. And it is quite difficult to block them without disabling other sites or applications running there.
• Telegram uses IPv6 addresses, which are much longer than IPv4 addresses. Accordingly, they are even more difficult to detect.
• Telegram clients use automatic configuration bots from proxy and VPN service providers, which makes them difficult to block. In addition, proxy connections are used via the SOCKS5 and MTProto protocols (additionally HTTP-Proxy for the client program of some platforms, in particular Linux).
• It is practically impossible to block the transmission of messages by Telegram clients. Since the message information is transmitted directly via the P2P protocol using a built-in Proxy, similar to the Tor architecture, in order to get rid of this messenger, you will have to block the IP addresses of all end users. It is this functionality, as well as other technologies that make it difficult for state regulators to block Telegram, that are included in the Telegram Open Network — an add-on to the Internet that encrypts data in the form of a special public key.

So, I believe that technically we do not have such an opportunity to close Telegram in our country now. Historically, we do not have a single gate through which the Internet enters, and at which blocking can be done.

In fact, all blocking in our country today is administrative — a blocking list is issued and providers themselves set restrictions. In the public sector, it’s different, but I won’t reveal the structure and methods of work.

The main thing here is the ideology of users, their own understanding that using this messenger is not necessary. It is necessary to carry out «educational» work, and not rudely ban it. Always, the bigger the ban, the more you want it.

If we talk about technical tools, then for local networks there are methods of banning, but for this you need to understand what and how to do it, use software and hardware that can do deep DPI.

The names and manufacturers of tools are not important — the main thing is to understand what and how to do it.

But this is not for long. You need to constantly monitor the connection and monitor the relevance of the blocking rules.

Allocating the necessary flows with the possibility of blocking:

Real-time user statistics:

Online activity at the time of observation

Therefore, my conclusion:

• In a separate organization, it is possible to block, but there must be a high level of personnel responsible for this measure.
• On a national scale, in particular in Ukraine, this blocking is impossible. There is a local solution to a real program that blocks. But there are 350 ports in Ukraine, so if you block 2, they will use the others. Historically, we do not have a single gate. And that is good.

Читайте головні IT-новини країни в нашому Telegram

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Читайте головні IT-новини країни в нашому Telegram