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posted by martyb on Wednesday January 22 2020, @10:45PM   Printer-friendly
from the fighting-fortunes dept.

Amazon boss Jeff Bezos's phone 'hacked by Saudi crown prince'

Exclusive: investigation suggests Washington Post owner was targeted five months before murder of Jamal Khashoggi

The Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos had his mobile phone "hacked" in 2018 after receiving a WhatsApp message that had apparently been sent from the personal account of the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, sources have told the Guardian.

The encrypted message from the number used by Mohammed bin Salman is believed to have included a malicious file that infiltrated the phone of the world's richest man, according to the results of a digital forensic analysis.

This analysis found it "highly probable" that the intrusion into the phone was triggered by an infected video file sent from the account of the Saudi heir to Bezos, the owner of the Washington Post.

The two men had been having a seemingly friendly WhatsApp exchange when, on 1 May of that year, the unsolicited file was sent, according to sources who spoke to the Guardian on the condition of anonymity.

Large amounts of data were exfiltrated from Bezos's phone within hours, according to a person familiar with the matter. The Guardian has no knowledge of what was taken from the phone or how it was used.

The extraordinary revelation that the future king of Saudi Arabia may have had a personal involvement in the targeting of the American founder of Amazon will send shockwaves from Wall Street to Silicon Valley.

Previously: Saudi Arabia's Government Allegedly Hacked Into Jeff Bezos's Phone


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  • (Score: 4, Funny) by khallow on Thursday January 23 2020, @03:58AM (4 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Thursday January 23 2020, @03:58AM (#947220) Journal
    Plus, we're neglecting the black budget for spy satellites, selective assassinations, and other nasty work. TMB could probably buy several beers with the vast sums hidden there.
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  • (Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Thursday January 23 2020, @07:17PM (3 children)

    by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Thursday January 23 2020, @07:17PM (#947570)

    Selective assassinations? Oh.

    Should I hide under the desk?

    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Friday January 24 2020, @05:19AM (2 children)

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday January 24 2020, @05:19AM (#947854) Journal

      Should I hide under the desk?

      Is that where SN's crack sniper squad expects to find you? After they drink the beer money, that is.

      • (Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Friday January 24 2020, @08:00AM (1 child)

        by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Friday January 24 2020, @08:00AM (#947879)

        Hey! I've got beer.

        Come on over boys.

        • (Score: 2, Funny) by khallow on Friday January 24 2020, @05:36PM

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday January 24 2020, @05:36PM (#948028) Journal
          Just don't lure them onto a fishing boat or we'll have to rebuild the program from scratch.