• Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
MUST READ

Stealth backdoor found in WordPress mu-Plugins folder

 | 

U.S. CISA adds CrushFTP, Google Chromium, and SysAid flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

U.S. CISA urges FCEB agencies to fix two Microsoft SharePoint flaws immediately and added them to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

Sophos fixed two critical Sophos Firewall vulnerabilities

 | 

French Authorities confirm XSS.is admin arrested in Ukraine

 | 

Microsoft linked attacks on SharePoint flaws to China-nexus actors

 | 

Cisco confirms active exploitation of ISE and ISE-PIC flaws

 | 

SharePoint under fire: new ToolShell attacks target enterprises

 | 

CrushFTP zero-day actively exploited at least since July 18

 | 

Hardcoded credentials found in HPE Aruba Instant On Wi-Fi devices

 | 

MuddyWater deploys new DCHSpy variants amid Iran-Israel conflict

 | 

U.S. CISA urges to immediately patch Microsoft SharePoint flaw adding it to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

Microsoft issues emergency patches for SharePoint zero-days exploited in "ToolShell" attacks

 | 

SharePoint zero-day CVE-2025-53770 actively exploited in the wild

 | 

Singapore warns China-linked group UNC3886 targets its critical infrastructure

 | 

U.S. CISA adds Fortinet FortiWeb flaw to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

SECURITY AFFAIRS MALWARE NEWSLETTER ROUND 54

 | 

Security Affairs newsletter Round 533 by Pierluigi Paganini – INTERNATIONAL EDITION

 | 

Radiology Associates of Richmond data breach impacts 1.4 million people

 | 

Fortinet FortiWeb flaw CVE-2025-25257 exploited hours after PoC release

 | 
  • Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
  • Home
  • Breaking News
  • Hacking
  • Intelligence
  • Mobile
  • Jeff Bezos phone was hacked by Saudi crown prince

Jeff Bezos phone was hacked by Saudi crown prince

Pierluigi Paganini January 22, 2020

The phone of the Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos was hacked in 2018 after receiving a WhatsApp message from the personal account of the crown prince of Saudi Arabia.

In April 2019, Gavin de Becker, the investigator hired by Amazon chief Jeff Bezos to investigate into the release of his intimate images revealed that Saudi Arabian authorities hacked the Bezos’s phone to access his personal data.

Gavin de Becker explained that the hack was linked to the coverage by The Washington Post newspaper, that is owned by Bezos, of the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Gavin De Becker investigated the publication in January of leaked text messages between Bezos and Lauren Sanchez, a former television anchor who the National Enquirer tabloid newspaper said Bezos was dating.

Jeff Bezos hired Gavin de Becker & Associates to find out how his intimate text messages and photos were obtained by the Enquirer.
Jeff Bezos blamed the Enquirer publisher American Media Inc of “blackmail” for threatening to publish the private photos if he did not stop the investigation. Jeff Bezos refused and decided to publicly disclose copies of emails from AMI.

In an article for The Daily Beast website, De Becker wrote that the parent company of the National Enquirer, American Media Inc., had demanded that De Becker deny finding any evidence of “electronic eavesdropping or hacking in their newsgathering process.”

“Our investigators and several experts concluded with high confidence that the Saudis had access to Bezos’ phone, and gained private
 leaked text messages between Bezos and Lauren Sanchez, a former television anchor who the National Enquirer tabloid newspaper said Bezos was dating. ,” de Becker wrote on The Daily Beast website.

Now The Guardian provides additional details on the spying asserting that the intimate pictures were obtained through a sophisticated hacking operation directed by the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammad bin Salman.

According to anonymous sources of The Guardian, Bezos’ phone was hacked using a WhatsApp message from the personal account of bin Salman himself.

“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.” reads the article published by 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. “

According to the sources, Bezos received a bait video file sent on May 1, 2018, that allowed it to infect its mobile device. The malicious code was used to spy on Bezos siphoning large amounts of data from his phone. The paper pointed out that at the time, the relationship between Bezos and the prince was good and the two were exchanging friendly messages.

The revelation could have severe repercussions, first of all it will complicate the position of Mohammad bin Salman and his alleged involvement in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi embassy in Istanbul, Turkey, in October 2018.

Saudi Arabia has previously denied its involvement in the murder of Khashoggi that was attributed to a “rogue operation”. In December, a Saudi court convicted eight people of involvement in the murder after a secret trial that was criticised as a sham by human rights experts.

The revelation will have a significant impact on the business relationships of the Saudi “MBS” with western investors in Saudi Arabia.

Another aspect to evaluate is the impact on the personal relationship between Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner with the crown prince.

US President always ignored the warning of the US intelligence and publicly expressed dislike of Jeff Bezos.

The Guardian asked the Saudi embassy in Washington about the claims, and later a message on Twitter refused any accusation and labeled them as “absurd”.

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.

— Saudi Embassy USA (@SaudiEmbassyUSA) January 22, 2020

The UN as announced the imminent release of an investigation.

NEW: Saudi crown prince implicated in hack of Jeff Bezos’s phone, U.N. report will say @mffisher @zeitchikWaPo https://t.co/kiyXxSncfJ

— Ellen Nakashima (@nakashimae) January 22, 2020
[adrotate banner=”9″] [adrotate banner=”12″]

Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – Bezos, hacking)

[adrotate banner=”5″]

[adrotate banner=”13″]


facebook linkedin twitter

Hacking hacking news information security news Jeff Bezos mobile Pierluigi Paganini Security Affairs Security News

you might also like

Pierluigi Paganini July 24, 2025
Stealth backdoor found in WordPress mu-Plugins folder
Read more
Pierluigi Paganini July 24, 2025
U.S. CISA adds CrushFTP, Google Chromium, and SysAid flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog
Read more

leave a comment

newsletter

Subscribe to my email list and stay
up-to-date!

    recent articles

    Stealth backdoor found in WordPress mu-Plugins folder

    Malware / July 24, 2025

    U.S. CISA adds CrushFTP, Google Chromium, and SysAid flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

    Hacking / July 24, 2025

    U.S. CISA urges FCEB agencies to fix two Microsoft SharePoint flaws immediately and added them to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

    Hacking / July 23, 2025

    Sophos fixed two critical Sophos Firewall vulnerabilities

    Security / July 23, 2025

    French Authorities confirm XSS.is admin arrested in Ukraine

    Cyber Crime / July 23, 2025

    To contact me write an email to:

    Pierluigi Paganini :
    pierluigi.paganini@securityaffairs.co

    LEARN MORE

    QUICK LINKS

    • Home
    • Cyber Crime
    • Cyber warfare
    • APT
    • Data Breach
    • Deep Web
    • Digital ID
    • Hacking
    • Hacktivism
    • Intelligence
    • Internet of Things
    • Laws and regulations
    • Malware
    • Mobile
    • Reports
    • Security
    • Social Networks
    • Terrorism
    • ICS-SCADA
    • POLICIES
    • Contact me

    Copyright@securityaffairs 2024

    We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
    Cookie SettingsAccept All
    Manage consent

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities...
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT