Bezos case: It was revealed today that the tabloid National Enquirer obtained selfies of AmazonJeff Bezos that showed intimate details of him and his mistress. The incident shows that even billionaires are no exception to hackers.
In particular, Bezos accused the National Enquirer of blackmailing him for leaking personal photos and information. According to Mark Johnson, who is the CEO of Sovereign Intelligence, the Bezos case shows that no one is exempt from the exploitation that exists on the Internet. Many security experts agreed with him and said that it is indeed ironic that several billionaires show amazing dignity in public but when it comes to the details of each person’s personal security measures, they seem to ignore them. Furthermore, Johnson said that he sees billionaires and top executives as the weakest members of society, as their personal information is “gold” for hackers, attackers and competitors. In addition to Johnson's statements, Ian Bremmer, the founder of Eurasia Group, said that if the National Enquirer managed to gain access to Bezos' personal photos, then it would certainly be very easy for China to discover Amazon's IP and strategy.
After the revelations of the Bezos case, whose fortune is estimated to be over 130 billion dollars, computer security experts surveyed their wealthy clients, in order to confirm that their computer systems and devices were not hacked. In the era we live in, the information on our personal devices is particularly important, as it includes details of bank accounts and personal data in general. Now, especially wealthy individuals have increased security measures and have switched from bodyguards and simple alarms to risk management services, to even better protect their assets and their inheritance. In addition to the Bezos case, similar cases have occurred in the past and that is why many have increased their security measures. For example, Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, gave 7.3 million dollars for his security in 2017.
However, Johnson said that no one's data is protected in the best way, as there are many third-party platforms that have social security numbers, or banking information, or personal photos. Regarding the Bezos case, a few days before Bezos revealed that he had been hacked, the founder of TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation, Joe Ricketts, found himself caught in a scandal after his private messages were released. More specifically, the news site "Splinter" published a series of racist emails from Ricketts, without citing the source.
Bezos did not say how the National Enquirer obtained his photos, but experts said the most common method for a hacker to obtain the identity of someone the target is associated with is to send a message to the target asking them to click on a link in a text or email, from which the hacker obtained the information they wanted.
