Bezos’ Security Consultant Accuses Saudis of Hacking the Amazon C.E.O.’s Phone

Mr. Bezos added that he had asked Mr. de Becker, his longtime security consultant, to investigate who had leaked information and photos about him.

Earlier this month, The New York Times reported that two people with direct knowledge of The Enquirer’s reporting said that everything the tabloid received on Mr. Bezos’ affair, including the “below-the-belt selfie,” came from a single source. The Wall Street Journal later reported that AMI had paid Ms. Sanchez’s brother, Michael Sanchez, $200,000 for the texts.

In its statement on Sunday, AMI said directly that its source was Mr. Sanchez. “The fact of the matter is, it was Michael Sanchez who tipped the National Enquirer off to the affair on Sept. 10, 2018, and over the course of four months provided all of the materials for our investigation.” AMI added, “There was no involvement by any other third party whatsover.”

Mr. de Becker on Saturday said that the effort against Mr. Bezos went beyond Mr. Sanchez and also involved the Saudis. Mr. de Becker pointed to an article published on Saturday by The New York Post in which Mr. Sanchez said The Enquirer “had seen text exchanges between the secret couple” before he was in touch with the tabloid on the matter.

“Reality is complicated, and can’t always be boiled down to a simple narrative like ‘the brother did it,’” Mr. de Becker wrote.

Mr. de Becker said his investigation included interviews with cybersecurity experts and “people who personally know the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.” But he stopped short of saying what methods he believed the Saudis may have used to access Mr. Bezos’ personal information.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/30/technology/jeff-bezos-saudis-hack.html?partner=rss&emc=rss