Published 12:28 IST, January 23rd 2020
Saudi Crown Prince messaged Jeff Bezos 'it's not true' on alleged hack
The Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman had reportedly messaged Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos that it was 'not true' on the alleged hack of Bezos's phone in 2018.
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Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' mobile reportedly got hacked after receiving a WhatsApp message from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman in 2018. The forensic experts hired by Bezos have reportedly concluded with 'medium to high confidence' that the account used by Saudi Prince was directly involved in the privacy breach. The Financial Times has reported that Mohammad bin Salman had also sent a text message to Bezos saying 'Jeff..it's not true' after several months of no contact. The Saudi Prince further clarified that the alleged hacking did not include the Kingdom because 'there is nothing against' Bezos or Amazon.
According to international reports, Amazon CEO's phone had mysteriously started sharing huge amounts of data immediately after receiving a video file from the de facto ruler of the Kingdom's WhatsApp account in May 2018. This file was sent a few weeks after the two had met for dinner at Los Angeles and exchanged numbers.
Furthermore, the relationship between one of the richest man in the world and Saudi Prince deteriorated after the murder of Washington Post columnist, Jamal Khashoggi. The gruesome killing was followed by a report on the newspaper on how a Saudi hit squad murdered the journalist in Istanbul and a Saudi Twitter campaign which targetted The Post and Bezos.
Kingdom denies involvement
The alleged involvement of Saudi Crown Prince and his inner circle in the hacking of The Washington Post owner’s phone gave another direction to Khashoggi's murder. This set back for the MBS comes after it has been trying to show the country in a better image. In December, Saudi Arabia court convicted eight people in the killing of The Post's columnist but exonerated inner circle of MBS. However, with the increasing allegations, the Saudi Arabia Embassy to the United States has rejected the claims and called for an investigation.
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 (@SaudiEmbassyUSA) January 22, 2020
12:28 IST, January 23rd 2020