How Jeff Bezos’ iPhone X Was Hacked

Unlike the running joke of Indian princes sending free money from overseas, I did not expect Mr. Bezos the image of Amazon to get hacked. It just goes to show that, even with billions of dollars and the latest technology, the iPhone X, someone as capable as Mr. Bezos can be hacked. It's also scary to know that it was just a video link that was clicked on, one single button, accidental or not. Not to mention, this cyber crime was on an app he used half a year ago, without him knowing. It's scary to know a sociopath can ruin your life hidden on the other side of an invisible virus somewhere on your communication device. Bezos has billions to find who did it, however the average Joe will never make it to the news.

I'd say this is a cautionary tale for anyone doing business with senior levels of the Saudi elite. And what does this say about how Mr Trump choses his friends? Even as the Saudi's prepare for the transition away from fossil fuels they must love the way the Donald seems to embrace everything about them.

And the Sewer Rat is a fan of MBS, a huge fan. It makes my head explode that people, from white suburban women to the unemployed coal miner, voted for him in 2016, to stick an ice pick in the ears of the coastal elite. I know two coastal elites who did and to rub salt in the wound my wife defends their action. I will stick with my flip phone and purchase books from my local independent bookstore.

Playing 80's Edition Trivial Pursuit the other day we came upon this (of all places) -- "What did Donald Trump buy from Adnan Khashoggi in 1988 for $29 MIllion?" Answer -- A yacht. Adnan Khashoggi is Jamal Khashoggi's uncle. He was one of the wealthiest arms dealers the world has ever known. When he died in 2017 he was worth $4 billion dollars. And Trump had bought a yacht from him. Hmmm. Are we supposed to think this is just a coincidence? If you're going to do reporting, do investigation also. This doesn't even pass the sniff test.

I was (perhaps wrongly) of the opinion that all iOS Apps and iOS in general implemented a sandbox approach isolating Apps & data to ensure security. Many Government security departments continue to complain they cannot access Apple phones and that there is no back door? Any care to explain if this so called hack is even feasible? Tks

Could not happen to a 'nicer' person. Bezos has created this world for himself. Ironic that he wants privacy while making money by selling the privacy of the people.

Am I the only one who is puzzled by how much attention this story is getting? Hackers break in to phones and computers all over the place, every day. Celebrities and the wealthy will likely be targeted even more. And the Saudis can be bad actors, killing people they do not like, among other recent things. Bezos had his phone hacked by the Saudis. Why are we caring?

If the invasion of privacy weren't so malevolent, one might note the irony of it happening to someone at Amazon.

We had a joke when I worked in IT. The error code for most problems was PEBCAK... Problem Exists Between Chair And Keyboard.... As the head of a huge company very involved in technology Bezos has no excuse.

Is it just wishful thinking or is it not highly likely that Prince was doing a favor for Don?

This could be that they were just going after phones and hit the lottery. Maybe they hacked thousands of phones and this was one of them. Also, maybe it was done on a VPN appearing as if it originated from Saudi Arabia

His data usage increased 29000% and nobody noticed? That's what happens when you have money to burn.

That does it.... I'm not taking Jeff's phone calls anymore.

The internet is both wonderful and horrible. This story shows the latter. All who use the internet in all its many maturations are exposing themselves to be hacked and most if not all of us will face this at some point in time. There are bad actors out there and there is evil out there. Bad actors with evil intent will hack you and spread everything on your phone and or your computer to the whole world. It is only a matter of time and it is unlikely you can add any protection to your phone or computer that the bad guys cannot get around. That is the evil of it. You will not be able to protect yourself except by not putting on your phone or computer anything you are not willing to have exposed.

This is just stunning. How bold these oligarchs, criminals and despots are. If they willingly take on some one with vast resources what on earth are they doing with the rest of us.

Sounds like Mr. Bezos is a little "naive".

How about using a burner when exchanging digits with murderous dictators?

Five years ago I patented a computer design that cannot be hacked. Sounds impossible, I know. The secret is that it has hardware control of security, not just software. I'm a retired IBM computer engineer. So far, no one wants to build it. Not even Jeff Bezos.

Is Signal, Telegram or any other messaging service any less likely to get hacked?

It seems that through this hack, they got access to his pictures, and more data on his phone. Then, the National Inquirer, his owner a Trump friend and supporter, "blackmails" Bezos about unflattering pictures they have of him. Bezos owns the Washington Post and that paper has been critical of Trump. Jared Kushner is close to MBS. How did the National Inquirer got a hold of the pictures from Saudi Arabia?

So now we all have to be careful about video files. Great. In the article it is noted that Facebook, which owns WhatsApp, "has patched the flaw that the malware used". It would be helpful to know if, in an email, one would have to click on an attachment or if simply opening the email would activate the hacking code.