As you might remember, earlier this year Jeff Bezos, founder, chairman, CEO, and president of Amazon, was caught having an affair with his friend Patrick Whitesell’s wife, Lauren Sánchez. The revelations went public and made the wealthiest couple in the world go their separate ways as they announced plans to divorce. It is still a mystery how the media managed to obtain proof that Jeff has been cheating on his wife. The National Enquirer, the media outlet that claimed to be in possession of intimate texts and images exchanged between the billionaire and Lauren Sanches, insisted that they have not hacked Jeff’s phone and that their motivation is not political. However, Jeff Bezos disagreed and ordered an investigation.
The results were a surprise – researcher Gavin De Becker told the media that his investigators and several independent experts concluded with high confidence that the Saudis had had access to Bezos’ phone, and managed to obtain private information. Gavin did not confirm if the texts have been stolen by them. After the statement went public, both National Enquirer and Saudi Arabia officials denied the allegations.
Saudi Arabian officials hurried up to publicly deny any involvement in the National Enquirer’s reporting of the affair between Amazon’s CEO and Lauren Sanchez. Spokesperson of Saudi Arabia told CNN that this is yet another attempt to damage the reputation of the Saudi kingdom and its leadership and dismissed the allegations.
National Enquirer also declined the claims that they have obtained personal information about the private life of the richest man in the world with the help of the Saudis. They called the allegations “false and unsubstantial.” Even though the media outlet initially refused to disclose their source, they eventually came up with a statement claiming that they have received the tip from the brother of Bezos’ mistress Michael Sanchez. National Enquirer claimed that he approached them first on Sept. 10, 2018, and have been supplying evidence to them over the next four months. The American supermarket tabloid published by American Media, Inc. continues to insist that there was no involvement by any additional third party.
The brother of Jeff Bezos’ mistress says that he is not the one who shared the explicit photos with the National Enquirer, even though that Wall Street Journal stated that he was paid $200,000 to share his findings with the American tabloid. He might have been the one who leaked the text messages, as he consistently refuses to firmly decline that he was the one who shared them with the media.
Overworked people sometimes do not maintain high levels of cyber security and awareness, as they simply believe that it won’t happen to them. However, recent events show that even the richest man in the world could be vulnerable and become a victim of hacking. Saudi Arabia might not have been the one who leaked the personal information, but according to Amazon’s research, they have had access to information stored on Jeff Bezos’ cellphone, and no one knows for sure what they have done with the stolen data. Having quality antivirus software is crucial for every person as leaked sensitive personal information can have a negative impact on anyone’s life.
Panda Security specializes in the development of endpoint security products and is part of the WatchGuard portfolio of IT security solutions. Initially focused on the development of antivirus software, the company has since expanded its line of business to advanced cyber-security services with technology for preventing cyber-crime.
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