Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' phone was hacked in 2018, according to his security consultants. By then, the top billionaire's team only accuses the Saudi government of infiltrating the personal gadget of Bezos.
However, the accusation is now getting a clearer picture as the team specifically identified Saudi Arabian Crowned Prince Mohammed bin Salman as the primary suspect for the hacking.
What did Jeff Bezos open on his phone that got him hacked?
In an exclusive report from The Guardian, Bezos' team is now eyeing the Crowned Prince as the main suspect for the hacking incident that happened in 2018.
According to the source, Bezos and Salman were reportedly chatting with each other through WhatsApp before the said hack. However, on May 1, 2018, Salman allegedly sent a malicious video message to Bezos through the app on which he opened.
After this, the phone memory of Bezos was suddenly receiving large amounts of unknown data. The publication clarified that their source did not identify what kinds of information was taken from the billionaire and where the infiltrator used the information.
The report only made clear that the forensic analysis team of Bezos accuses Salman as the one that hacked Amazon CEO's phone.
"He probably believed that if he got something on Bezos, it could shape coverage of Saudi Arabia in the Post. It is clear that the Saudis have no real boundaries or limits in terms of what they are prepared to do in order to protect and advance MBS, whether it is going after the head of one of the largest companies in the world or a dissident who is on their own," Middle East expert Andrew Miller told the Guardian.
Saudi Arabia calls the allegations 'absurd.'
After the claims sent by the Bezos team to the Saudi Arabian Crowned Prince, the government of Saudi already made a statement on Twitter, saying that the team is only making 'absurd' accusations against their official.
"Recent media reports that suggest the Kingdom is behind the hacking of Mr. Jeff Bezos' phone are absurd," the Saudi Embassy said on Twitter. "We call for an investigation on these claims so that we can have all the facts out."
Even before Salman's name got involved in the hacking incident, the team of Bezos already made claims that Saudi Arabia got the motive to hack Bezos' personal information as the billionaire also owned American daily newspaper company, The Washington Post.
The Washington Post involvement on Bezos hacking
According to Bezos' security consultant, Gavin de Becker, Saudi was targeting The Washington Post owner as the newspaper was said to be one of the powerful critics of the country.
Worse, one of Washington Post's columnists was found dead on Turkey that was said to be an official order from Prince Mohammed, according to Central Intelligence Agency.
Jeff Bezos controversy
In 2019, Bezos was under controversy after pictures and private messages shared by him and Lauren Sanchez, a former TV anchor, were leaked online by The Enquirer website.
The team of Bezos said that they were 'highly confident' that the Saudi authorities were the ones behind the leaked pictures and sent it online to be published.
As of now, the Bezos analysis team has not yet released any further statements regarding the investigation.
