Overview

The Jeff Bezos' iPhone Hack occurred in May 2018 following a text via WhatsApp from Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, also known colloquially as MbS, that infected Amazon founder Jeff Bezos iPhone with data-harvesting malware. In the months since the text, more than 6 gigabytes of data off Bezos' device. In January 2020, the United Nations announced an investigation into Saudi Arabia's role in the hack.

Background

On April 4th, 2018, following a dinner with MbS, Bezos and the Saudi Crown Prince exchange contact information and begin texting each other. Less than a month later, on May 1st, MbS sends a video message to Bezos on WhatsApp (messages shown below).^[1][2] According to a private investigation commissioned by Bezos, the video message contained a hidden code that harvested data from Bezos' iPhone, giving the attackers access to the entire device.

Over the next few months, activists with ties to Jamal Khashoggi, the journalist killed and dismembered by the Saudi government in October 2018, also reported being infected with malware via WhatsApp.

On November 8th, MbS texts a meme of a woman that resembles Bezos' then-secret romantic partner Lauren Sanchez (shown below). The meme reads, "Arguing with a woman is like reading the software license agreement. In the end you have to ignore everything and click I agree." At this time, Bezos had begun a private divorce with his wife, which had no been disclosed to the press, but as the New York Times notes "would have been apparent to anyone reading his text messages."

National Enquirer Blackmail Attempt

Jeff Bezos' Text Messages

On January 10th, 2019, the National Enquirer^[4] published alleged text messages from Bezos to Sanchez. In one of the messages, Bezos allegedly wrote, "I love you, alive girl. I will show you with my body, and my lips and my eyes, very soon." The text was the subject of public mockery following the publication.

No Thank You, Mr. Pecker

On February 7th, in a blog post on the website Medium,^[5] Bezos responded to what he describes as "extortion and blackmail" from AMI, the Nation Enquirer and its owner David Pecker. In the blog, he states that Washington Post investigations have determined that "Mr. Pecker has used the Enquirer and AMI for political reasons," particularly in regards to Pecker's relationship with the government of Saudi Arabia. He writes:

In the AMI letters I’m making public, you will see the precise details of their extortionate proposal: They will publish the personal photos unless Gavin de Becker and I make the specific false public statement to the press that we “have no knowledge or basis for suggesting that AMI’s coverage was politically motivated or influenced by political forces.”

If we do not agree to affirmatively publicize that specific lie, they say they’ll publish the photos, and quickly. And there’s an associated threat: They’ll keep the photos on hand and publish them in the future if we ever deviate from that lie.

The letters argue that if these actions are not taken photographs of Bezos exposing his genitalia and elicit photographs of Sanchez will be published by AMI. One of the company's attorneys write to Bezos:

We hereby demand that you cease and desist such defamatory conduct immediately. Any further dissemination of these false, vicious, speculative and unsubstantiated statements is done at your client’s peril.

Developments

Investigation

In mid-2019, Bezos began discussing an investigation into his phone's security. During this time, Prince Mohammed sent a message to Bezos that read, in part, "there is nothing against you or Amazon from me or Saudi Arabia." The investigation concluded that Bezos' phone had been attacked by spyware known as Pegasus and Galileo. The Saudi government purchased Pegasus from the Israeli government in November 2017 and that one of Mohammed's advisers Saud al-Qahtani owned a 20 percent stake in the Hacking Team, the developers of Galileo.

Saudi Response

On January 21st, 2020, the Saudi Embassy in the United States tweeted, ^[7] "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." The tweet received more than 2,700 likes and 2,300 retweets in less than two days (shown below).

United Nations Investigation

On January 22nd, 2020, United Nations human rights experts called for an investigation into the MbS' involvement in the hacking of Bezos' iPhone.^[3] They said in a statement:

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 allegations reinforce other reporting pointing to a pattern of targeted surveillance of perceived opponents and those of broader strategic importance to the Saudi authorities, including nationals and non-nationals. These allegations are relevant as well to ongoing evaluation of claims about the Crown Prince's involvement in the 2018 murder of Saudi and Washington Post journalist, Jamal Khashoggi.

Bezos Response

On January 22nd, 2020, Bezos tweeted^[8] a photograph of himself honoring Khashoggi with the hashtag "#Jamal." The tweet received more than 25,000 likes and 5,200 retweets in less than 24 hours (shown below).

Online Reaction

News of the investigation and Bezos' iPhone hack sparked conversation online. On January 23rd, Redditor ^[6] JBeylovesyou posted "How Jeff Bezos' iPhone X Was Hacked" New York Times^[1] article in the /r/apple subreddit, received more than 840 points (95% upvoted) and 315 comments in less than 24 hours.

Media Coverage

On January 22nd, 2020, CNET^[2] published a video timeline of the hack. Within 24 hours, the post received more than 25,000 views (shown below).

Virtually every major media outlets covered the hack, including The New York Times,^[1] Washington Post,^[9] The Daily Beast,^[10] Fox News ^[11] and more.

Search Interest

External References