UN calls for immediate investigation into Saudi role in Jeff Bezos hack
0Reported today on The Verge
For the full article visit: https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/22/21076773/jeff-bezos-amazon-hack-investigation-saudi-arabia-mbs-spyware-nso
Reported today in The Verge.
UN calls for immediate investigation into Saudi role in Jeff Bezos hack
A 2018 spyware attack on Jeff Bezos' phone escalated into an international scandal on Wednesday, as United Nations human rights experts issued a stern statement criticizing the government of Saudi Arabia for allegedly conducting the hack.
"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," the statement reads. "The alleged hacking of Mr. Bezos's phone, and those of others, demands immediate investigation by US and other relevant authorities." The Saudi government has denied any role in the hack.
"This reported surveillance of Mr. Bezos, allegedly through software developed and marketed by a private company," the statement continues, "is, if true, a concrete example of the harms that result from the unconstrained marketing, sale and use of spyware."
The report also mentions two former Twitter employees who were charged with spying on behalf of the Saudi government, which investigators take as evidence of a broader campaign by the country.
According to the report, the hack was part of a broader campaign to blackmail Bezos into softening The Washington Post's coverage of Saudi Arabia in the months leading up to the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Private messages and photos from Bezos were later leaked to the National Enquirer, something Bezos described in a public Medium post as part of an attempted blackmail scheme.
The technical evidence for Saudi Arabian involvement comes from a report by Bezos' personal security consultants, which was reported on further by The New York Times and Financial Times. Acc