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Jeff Bezos, also the world’s richest man, allegedly had his iPhone X hacked in May 2018 through a mobile spyware similar to the Israel-based “NSO Group’s Pegasus, according to the forensic report made available to the UN Special Rapporteurs. Pegasus is the same tool that was used to hack phones of several Indian journalists and activists in May last year. So, who hacked Bezos’ phone? Reports point to a WhatsApp account linked to the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. In April 2018, Bezos, in a dinner meeting with Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, had exchanged phone numbers. The report claimed that on May 1, 2018, Bezos had received a malicious MP4 video file on WhatsApp from an account linked to the crown prince. After receiving the video file on WhatsApp, the report states that Bezos’s phone saw “an extreme change in behavior”. “Records showed that within hours of receipt of the video from the Crown Prince’s … [Read more...] about Here’s why Israeli firm says that they cannot be blamed for the ‘hacking’ of the world’s richest man’s phone

Hong Kong declared the impact of the novel Coronavirus outbreak to be the highest emergency response level, raising it from the previous status of "serious" after the city reported five confirmed cases. The Chinese authorities sent 450 military medics in an effort to fight the outbreak in the hardest-hit city of Wuhan. The major event of Asian/Oceanian Tokyo 2020 boxing qualifying event, was cancelled in China due to the outbreak. It was later rescheduled in Jordan. The medical community across the globe continues to engage in researching medicine and vaccine to battle the deadly virus that brought the world on its knees within a month. … [Read more...] about Coronavirus: How fear has gripped the world

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and U.S. President Donald Turmp have discussed the security of telecommunications networks as the U.K. prepares to decide whether to allow Chinese tech giant Huawei to build aspects of its new high-speed mobile network. The United States is pushing Britain and other allies to ban Huawei from making parts of its 5G network. The American administration claims it would be a security risk - something Huawei vehemently denies. Cooperation to ensure the security of telecommunications networks was discussed in a phone call between the two leaders on Friday, the British government said in a statement amid reports that U.K. officials have backed the firm to play a role. Britain's National Security Council is widely expected to make its decision next week. Huawei is the world's biggest maker of switching gear for phone and internet companies. But it has faced rising scrutiny over U.S. allegations that it could be forced by the Chinese government to … [Read more...] about US, UK leaders talk telecom security ahead of 5G decision

Google’s search engine is undoubtedly the most popular and widely-used across the world by millions of people everyday. However, last week a section of users complained as Google made certain changes that seem to have not gone down well. Earlier last week, Google made some changes to Search (for desktop users) which showed companies’ ‘favicons’ next to link previews. Several users said that the interface had become cluttered and they couldn’t differentiate between ads and search results. Google has now tweeted that it set to make some experiments. In a tweet from its official account Google said, “Last week we updated the look of Search on desktop to mirror what’s been on mobile for months. We’ve heard your feedback about the update. We always want to make Search better, so we’re going to experiment with new placements for favicons.” Interestingly, the favicons were reportedly well-received by mobile users, as per Google. In … [Read more...] about Google promises to make Search better after users’ complaints

You may not think you're in the same league as Jeff Bezos when it comes to being a hacking target. Probably not, but you - and just about anyone else, potentially including senior U.S. government figures - could still be vulnerable to an attack similar to one the Amazon founder and Washington Post owner apparently experienced. Two U.N. experts this week called for the U.S. to investigate a likely hack of Bezos' phone that could have involved Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. A commissioned forensic report found with "medium to high confidence" that Bezos' iPhone X was compromised by a video MP4 file he received from the prince in May 2018. Bezos later went public about the hack after the National Enquirer tabloid threatened to publish Bezos' private photos if he didn't call off a private investigation into the hacking of his phone. It's not clear if those two events are related. The Saudis have denied any involvement in the purported hack. The events could … [Read more...] about The big lesson from Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos hack: Anyone can be a target