Jeff Bezos’s mobile phone was hacked following an exchange between the Amazon.com Inc chief executive officer and Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman on encrypted messaging service WhatsApp, according to two people familiar with an analysis of the breach.
While a message from the prince to Bezos in mid-2018 that preceded the hack appeared benign, investigators found digital evidence suggesting it contained code that ultimately led to the breach of the billionaire’s phone, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the probe isn’t public. A forensic analysis showed with moderately high confidence that a WhatsApp account used by bin Salman was involved, another person said.