A forensic analysis reveals that an advanced attack on Jeff Bezos’ iPhone X provided full access to both his images and messages.
The attack, and the alleged attempted blackmail that followed, resulted in the famous “ No thank you, Mr Pecker” post in which the Amazon creator decided to go public about the presence of embarrassing texts and images …
While iOS is far much better secured against malware than Android devices, iPhones are not immune, specifically to sophisticated, targeted attacks.
Background
The National Enquirer ran a series of posts in which it said it had proof of an affair in between Bezos and previous Fox anchor Lauren Sanchez. The tabloid released what it says were text in between the 2 of them, and said in a now-deleted post that it likewise had salacious selfies.
Enquirer owner American Media, Inc, was the subject of a Washington Post investigation into its function in assisting Trump silence a previous Playboy model who wanted to inform her story of an affair with Trump. AMI subsequently confessed to purchasing the special rights to her story and after that not running it, thus keeping it out of the media during Trump’s presidential election project.
Bezos, who owns the Washington Post, said AMI tried to pressure him into ending its examination and making an incorrect declaration that there was absolutely nothing to it. He chose to go public ahead of the Enquirer coverage.
Several days earlier, an AMI leader advised us that Mr. Pecker is ‘apoplectic’ about our investigation. For factors still to be much better comprehended, the Saudi angle appears to hit an especially sensitive nerve.
A couple of days after hearing about Mr. Pecker’s apoplexy, we were approached, verbally at first, with an offer. They said they had more of my text and images that they would release if we didn’t stop our examination […]
In the AMI letters I’m making public, you will see the accurate information of their extortionate proposition: They will publish the personal pictures unless Gavin de Becker and I make the particular incorrect public statement to the press that we ‘have no knowledge or basis for suggesting that AMI’s protection was politically encouraged or affected by political forces.’
Saudi Arabia crown prince Mohammed bin Salman was stated to be behind the attack, consequently sharing info with AMI, in order to use pressure to end WP examinations into possible participation in the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Jeff Bezos iPhone X hack
Analysis by cybersecurity company FTI Consulting found that malware was embedded into a video file sent to Bezos from a WhatsApp account coming from the Saudi crown prince, reports the New York Times
On the afternoon of Might 1, 2018, Jeff Bezos received a message on WhatsApp from an account coming from Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.
The 2 guys had formerly communicated using the messaging platform, however Mr. Bezos, Amazon’s chief executive, had not expected a message that day– let alone one with a video of Saudi and Swedish flags with Arabic text.
The video, a file of more than 4.4 megabytes, was more than it appeared, according to a forensic analysis that Mr. Bezos commissioned and paid for to find who had actually hacked his iPhone X. Hidden in that file was a different little code that probably implanted malware that provided attackers access to Mr. Bezos’ entire phone, including his pictures and private interactions.
It’s not known whether Bezos opened the file; some malware can run without any user interaction.
The United Nations the other day said the malware used points to Saudi Arabia.
The forensic analysis examined that the intrusion most likely was undertaken through the use of a popular spyware product identified in other Saudi security cases, such as the NSO Group’s Pegasus-3 malware, an item widely reported to have been acquired and released by Saudi officials. This would follow other details. The use of WhatsApp as a platform to allow setup of Pegasus onto gadgets has actually been well-documented and is the topic of a suit by Facebook/WhatsApp against NSO Group.
That lawsuit alleged that NSO assisted in spying on more than 1,000 WhatsApp users
The Saudi federal government denies any involvement, but the UN states there suffices proof to start a criminal investigation.
The info we have gotten recommends the possible participation of the crown prince in security of Mr. Bezos, in an effort to affect, if not silence, the Washington Post‘s reporting on Saudi Arabia.
The alleged hacking of Mr. Bezos’s phone, and those of others, demands immediate investigation by US and other appropriate authorities, including investigation of the constant, multi-year, direct, and personal involvement of the Crown Prince in efforts to target perceived opponents.
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