Boris Johnson allegedly had WhatsApp chats with Saudi prince who hacked Bezos

British leader Boris Johnson had WhatsApp chats with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince — sparking fears of a potential hack attack like the one on Amazon chief Jeff Bezos, according to a report.
A former UK government official told The Telegraph they were “99 percent sure” that Johnson chatted with Mohammed bin Salman on the same app he allegedly used to plant spyware on Bezos’ phone.
“He certainly had his number and would ping him the occasional message,” the former Foreign Office figure told the UK paper.
Another ex-Foreign Office source said it was “commonplace” to engage with Middle Eastern notables via WhatsApp, saying they “wouldn’t be surprised” if the prime minister had done so with the crown prince.
The revelation “raises serious questions about potential vulnerabilities” in light of the attack on the world’s richest man, The Telegraph noted.
United Nations experts on Wednesday shared forensic findings that suggested with “medium to high confidence” that bin Salman hacked the iPhone of Bezos in a bid to “influence, if not silence” the Washington Post, which he also owns.
Saudi officials called the claims “absurd.”
Asked at a briefing on Wednesday whether Johnson communicated with the crown prince Prince Mohammed over WhatsApp, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “I have no idea.”
“We are not going to comment on the security arrangements of ministers,” the spokesman added.
Before he was prime minister, Johnson — a former journalist — wrote a glowing column in The Times of London before bin Salman made a state visit to the UK in 2018.
He claimed that the young crown prince had “demonstrated by word and deed” that he was taking the Kingdom in a more open direction.”
“Our role must be to encourage him along this path,” he wrote.
“Be in no doubt: the future of Saudi Arabia – and indeed the region and the wider Muslim world – depends on his success.”
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