The Saudi Arabian government has denied the accusation of hacking Jeff Bezos’ phone, following a private investigation initiated by Bezos. The investigation strongly indicated that Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman was responsible for the hack.
According to a recent report by The Guardian, the forensic digital analysis revealed that Bezos’ phone was compromised after he received a malicious video file from a phone number associated with Mohammed bin Salman. Subsequently, there was a rapid extraction of “large amounts of data” from Bezos’ phone.
Several weeks later, the National Enquirer, a US tabloid, obtained access to private texts between Bezos and a woman named Lauren Sanchez, with whom he was having an extramarital affair. This led Bezos to part ways with his wife, resulting in her becoming a billionaire after a settlement.
The Guardian Newspaper reported that Bezos became a target of Saudi Arabia due to the Washington Post’s critical coverage of the Saudi government. It is worth noting that Jamal Khashoggi, a journalist with the Washington Post, was allegedly murdered by the Saudi government 5 months after Bezos’ phone was hacked.
After Khashoggi’s death, which occurred in the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Turkey, Saudi Arabia admitted it as ‘a mistake’. This resulted in widespread condemnation of the crown prince, who has endeavored to attract investments to the region and implement liberal reforms to boost tourism in the country.
Responding to the news, the Saudi embassy in Washington stated in an online post that “recent media reports suggesting the Kingdom’s involvement in the hacking of Mr. Jeff Bezos’ phone are baseless.”
“We demand a thorough investigation into these allegations to reveal all the facts,” the embassy added.
Gavin de Becker, a security consultant working for Bezos, expressed in an opinion piece published by the Daily Beast in March 2019;
“Our investigators and several experts have concluded with high confidence that the Saudis had access to Bezos’ phone and obtained private information,”
The Saudi government’s alleged role in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi continues to resonate globally. The recent revelations about the hacking of Bezos’ phone further tarnish the image of Mohammed Bin Salman, the future king of Saudi Arabia.
At the time of his death in October 2018, Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist, was a dissident who had been critical of the Saudi government.