A new investigation shows the mobile phone of Amazon CEO and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos was hacked in 2018 after receiving a WhatsApp message sent from a number belonging to Saudi Crown Prince\u00a0Mohammed bin Salman (MbS).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n The digital forensic analysis, whose results were published by The Guardian on Tuesday, found that it is \u201chighly probable\u201d that the intrusion into Bezos\u2019 phone was triggered by an infected video file sent from bin Salman\u2019s account.<\/p>\n\n Speaking on condition of anonymity, sources told The Guardian that the two men had been having a seemingly friendly WhatsApp exchange when, on 1 May 2018, the unsolicited file was sent.<\/p>\n\n Large amounts of data were acquired from Bezos\u2019s phone within a matter of hours, according to a person familiar with the matter.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n The Financial Times reported that the malicious file was sent weeks after the pair exchanged numbers at a dinner in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n\n Cybersecurity expert Anthony Ferrante, who conducted the analysis, said he determined with a \u201cmedium to high degree of confidence\u201d that dozens of gigabytes were exfiltrated, possibly with Pegasus spying software.<\/p>\n\n Saudi Arabia\u2019s US Embassy denied the hacking allegation against the Saudi crown prince.<\/p>\n\n Saudi experts told The Guardian that Bezos was probably targeted because of his ownership of The Washington Post and its coverage of Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n\n Recent media reports that suggest the Kingdom is behind a hacking of Mr. Jeff Bezos' phone are absurd. We call for an investigation on these claims so that we can have all the facts out.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n It came one year after private information about Bezos was leaked to the American tabloid The National Enquirer.<\/p>\n\n In January 2019, it published text messages between the billionaire and former Fox television presenter Lauren Sanchez, saying, Bezos had been \u201ccaught cheating on his wife of 25 years with the spouse of a Hollywood mogul!\u201d<\/p>\n\n A month after the publication of that alleged affair, Bezos accused the American Media Incorporated (AMI), The National Enquirer's parent company, of \u201cextortion and blackmail,\u201d saying it had threatened to publish his intimate photos unless he said publicly that the tabloid\u2019s reporting was not politically motivated.<\/p>\n\n Bezos also stressed that The Washington Post\u2019s \u201cunrelenting coverage\u201d of the murder of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post, was \u201cundoubtedly unpopular in certain circles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n
\u2014 Saudi Embassy (@SaudiEmbassyUSA) January 22, 2020<\/a><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n
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