Security News > 2020 > January > Who honestly has a crown prince in their threat model? UN report officially fingers Saudi royal as Bezos hacker

The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammad bin Salman, has been officially fingered as the man responsible for hacking Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos's iPhone X, causing a massive stir in diplomatic circles.

Following a report yesterday that Bezos's smartphone had been compromised by a malware-poisoned video sent directly by bin Salman to Bezos through WhatsApp, on Wednesday two UN special rapporteurs named the head of the oil state as the source of digital spyware, and called for an "Immediate investigation by US and other relevant authorities" into the "Continuous, multi-year, direct and personal involvement of the Crown Prince in efforts to target perceived opponents."

Shortly thereafter, a technical report ordered by Bezos back in 2018, and completed in 2019, into the security breach - a report on which the UN staff had based their assessment - publicly leaked.

"In contravention of fundamental international human rights standards, a WhatsApp account belonging to the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2018 deployed digital spyware enabling surveillance of The Washington Post owner and Amazon CEO, Jeffery Bezos," the UN said in an unusually blunt statement.

"This is what the UN's Callamard and Kaye said in relation to the report:"The information we have received suggests the possible involvement of the Crown Prince in surveillance of Mr. Bezos, in an effort to influence, if not silence, The Washington Post's reporting on Saudi Arabia.

News URL

https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/22/saudi_bezos_phone_hack/