Facebook, the parent company of the messaging platform WhatsApp, is now receiving the glare in light of the recent hacking of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' iPhone. Reports claim that Bezos' iPhone received a WhatsApp message from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, which contains malware. The hack compromised a massive amount of data from the CEO's phone.
Former British Deputy Prime Minister and Current Facebook Vice President of Global Affairs and Communications Nick Clegg shared his thoughts about the issue in a recent interview with BBC. When asked about the Bezos incident, the Facebook vice president says the end to end encryption technology of WhatsApp could not be hacked. He adds that he is very confident that the Amazon CEO was not hacked via WhatsApp.
Clegg further compares Bezos hack to opening an email with malicious content. He says that the problem only springs to life when you open it. Of course, his statement is not accurate because opening an email does not infect a device unless the email client allows scripting.
The Facebook vice president could be referring to compromising your device when you click on the file. He later adds that something must have affected the operating system of the victim's smartphone. This is not the first time that Facebook points the blame to the operating system for the hack.
It appears that the Facebook Vice President for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa Nicola Mendelsohn shares the same perspective as revealed in a recent interview with Bloomberg. The hack of the billionaire's iPhone allegedly through WhatsApp highlights the possible security weakness in the operating systems of smartphones, Mendelsohn says. Both Facebook executives did not explicitly name Apple in their own comments.
However, Jeff Bezos, according to reports published by news outlets, was using an iPhone X when he received the alleged WhatsApp video. Security researchers say that the iPhone's defenses are extremely difficult to infiltrate. However, once hackers get in, they could go undetected.
Security researchers believe this is due to Apple's secretive method of finding and repairing security flaws. Apple has not made any comment or issued any statement associated with the recent comments of Facebook executives. The latest issue of WhatsApp, being the platform used to send the malware is just a part of the continuing drama that started more than a year ago and covered a lot of issues and personalities. Saudi Arabia already denied the involvement of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and called the report 'absurd.
