Jeff Bezos phone hacking: Facebook blames Apple OS, says WhatsApp can't be hacked

Days after a report claimed that Amazon boss Jeff Bezos' smartphone was hacked in 2018 through a WhatsApp message, Facebook has blamed Apple operating system for the same, claiming that its messaging platform cannot be hacked. A recent report by The Guardian had claimed that Bezos' iPhone was hacked after he received a 4.4MB video file containing malware via WhatsApp.

However, Facebook's Vice President of Global Affairs and Communications, Nick Cleg has told BBC in an interview that because of its end-to-end encryption, WhatsApp is unhackable. He also blamed Apple's operating system for Bezos' episode.

"It sounds like something on the... you know, what they call the operate, operated on the phone itself. It can't have been anything, when the message was sent, in transit, because that's end-to-end encrypted on WhatsApp," Clegg told the show host. He compared the episode to opening a malicious email, saying that "it only comes to life when you open it".

He added that Bezos' phone started sending unusually large amounts of outbound data because 'something'.

WATCH Zee Business TV LIVE Streaming Online -

"As sure as you can be that the technology of end-to-end encryption cannot, other than unless you have handset, or you have the message at either end, cannot be hacked into," he was quoted as saying. Apple is yet to comment on Facebook's statement.

The report by Guardian, meanwhile, claimed that the message was sent to Bezos by the Saudi crown prince Mohammad Bin Salman.

However, Saudi Arabia has denied its part in the entire episode. In a statement, Saudi Arabia US embassy has called the report absurd. “We call for an investigation on these claims so that we can have all the facts out,” adds the statement.