United Nations Calls For Investigation Into Alleged Saudi Hacking of Bezos’ iPhone

January 22, 2020 by Dan McCue
United Nations Calls For Investigation Into Alleged Saudi Hacking of Bezos’ iPhone
FILE - In this Dec. 14, 2017, file photo, Jeff Bezos attends the premiere of "The Post" at The Newseum in Washington. United Nations experts on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020 have called for "immediate investigation" by the United States into information they received that suggests that Jeff Bezos' phone was hacked after receiving a file sent from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's WhatsApp account. (Photo by Brent N. Clarke/Invision/AP, File)

The United Nations called for an immediate investigation Wednesday into the alleged involvement of Saudi Crown Prince Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the hacking of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ iPhone in 2018.

“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 UN statement said.

It continues, “The alleged hacking of Mr. Bezos’s phone, and those of others, demands immediate investigation by the U.S. and other relevant authorities, including investigation of the continuous, multi-year, direct and personal involvement of the Crown Prince in efforts to target perceived opponents.”

Bezos claims he was hacked after he received a video from a WhatsApp account reportedly belonging to the Saudi crown prince.

Afterwards he said, he discovered his phone was sending out unusually large volumes of data.

Bezos also claims to have received a message from the crown prince’s account suggesting the prince had intimate knowledge of the Amazon founder’s private life.

The billionaire then had a forensic analysis carried out by the Washington-based business advisory firm FTI Consulting, which concluded with “medium to high confidence” that Bezos’ iPhone was hacked by malware coming from a Whatsapp account used by the Saudi crown prince.

Bezos, has in the past, accused Saudi authorities of targeting him because he owned The Washington Post and the newspaper aggressively reported on the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, who was one of its columnists and a longtime critic of the Saudi government.

The Central Intelligence Agency has concluded that Prince Mohammed ordered the killing.

The Saudi embassy in Washington on Wednesday called the allegations “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,” it said via Twitter.

A+
a-
  • hacking
  • Jeff Bezos
  • Saudi Arabia
  • In The News

    Health

    Voting

    In The News

    April 26, 2025
    by Beth McCue
    New Poll Finds Tipping Point on Business Attitudes to Renewable Energy Shift  

    A new poll conducted across 15 countries, by Savanta and commissioned by E3G, Beyond Fossil Fuels and We Mean Business... Read More

    A new poll conducted across 15 countries, by Savanta and commissioned by E3G, Beyond Fossil Fuels and We Mean Business Coalition  shows overwhelming support for a rapid transition away from fossil fuels to renewable electricity.   Powering up: Business perspectives on shifting to renewable electricity indicates a... Read More

    April 25, 2025
    by Dan McCue
    Kennedy Unveils Plan to Expand Access to Sickle Cell Treatment

    CHARLESTON, S.C. — Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. used a morning keynote address before a group of state lawmakers... Read More

    CHARLESTON, S.C. — Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. used a morning keynote address before a group of state lawmakers in Charleston, South Carolina, to unveil a new initiative intended to expand access to the latest treatments for sickle cell disease. Kennedy offered few details in... Read More

    April 25, 2025
    by Dan McCue
    Rubio Welcomes Iraqi Foreign Minister for High-Level Talks

    WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed Iraq’s Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein for high-level talks at the State Department... Read More

    WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed Iraq’s Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein for high-level talks at the State Department on Friday, a clear sign the Trump administration is forging strategic dialogues in the face of shifting dynamics in the Middle East. After the meeting, Hussein,... Read More

    April 25, 2025
    by Tom Ramstack
    Government Lawyers Mistakenly Admit New York Congestion Pricing Is Legal

    WASHINGTON — The Trump administration’s lawyers appear to have booby-trapped their own chances this week of defeating New York City’s... Read More

    WASHINGTON — The Trump administration’s lawyers appear to have booby-trapped their own chances this week of defeating New York City’s congestion pricing program that charges motorists for driving downtown. They inadvertently filed a memo with the court overseeing a lawsuit between the state and federal government... Read More

    Ex-US Rep. George Santos Sentenced to Over 7 Years in Prison for Fraud and Identity Theft

    CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — Disgraced former U.S. Rep. George Santos was sentenced Friday to over seven years in prison, sobbing as... Read More

    CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — Disgraced former U.S. Rep. George Santos was sentenced Friday to over seven years in prison, sobbing as he learned his punishment for the crimes that led to his expulsion from Congress. Santos, who pleaded guilty last summer to federal wire fraud and aggravated identity theft,... Read More

    Whooping Cough Cases Rising Again in the US

    Whooping cough cases are rising, and doctors are bracing for yet another tough year. There have been 8,485 cases reported in... Read More

    Whooping cough cases are rising, and doctors are bracing for yet another tough year. There have been 8,485 cases reported in 2025, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s twice as many cases as this time last year, based on the... Read More

    News From The Well
    scroll top