Saudis hacked Amazon chief Jeff Bezos’s phone, says company’s security adviser

The security chief for Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos says the Saudi government hacked into Bezos’s phone and gained private information from it.

However Becker did not specify which part of the Saudi government he was blaming for the hack, and shared only a few details about the investigation that led him to the conclusion that the kingdom was responsible.

Gavin de Becker linked the hack to extensive coverage by The Washington Post newspaper, which is owned by Bezos, of the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul last year.

“Our investigators and several experts concluded with high confidence that the Saudis had access to Bezos’s phone, and gained private information,” De Beckerwrote on the website of The Daily Beast. “As of today, it is unclear to what degree, if any, AMI was aware of the details.”

“Some Americans will be surprised to learn that the Saudi government has been very intent on harming Jeff Bezos since last October, when the Post began its relentless coverage of Khashoggi’s murder,” De Becker wrote.

De Becker said he has turned over the findings of his investigation to US federal officials, without elaborating.

In February, Bezos had accused the National Enquirer’s owner of trying to blackmail him with the threat of publishing “intimate photos” he allegedly sent to Sanchez unless he said in public that the tabloid’s reporting on him was not politically motivated.

Bezos had hired Gavin de Becker & Associates to find out how his intimate text messages and photos made their way into the hands of the Enquirer.