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Jeff Bezos has become the richest person in the world, with a net worth of more than 130 billion dollars.
The staggering revelation that a tabloid got selfies under the belt of Amazon's founder, Jeff Bezos – the richest man in the world – suggests that even billionaires are not out of the reach of pirates .
Bezos went out to fight this week, accusing the National Enquirer of having him sing with dark images of himself and his mistress, and preventing the threat of publication by publishing the details of the images himself.
But for Mark Johnson, CEO of Sovereign Intelligence, the incident makes it clear that "no one is immune to cyber-exploitation".
"It is curious to see that billionaires have a keen sense of amazement related to their own industries, while apparently ignoring the details of security measures taken in commonplaces."
Johnson sees billionaires and senior executives as particularly vulnerable because their personal information is a gold mine for criminals, intelligence agencies and competitors.
"Getting their personal data, it's like having the keys to the realm," said Johnson, thus providing an invaluable insight into the thinking and strategies of the world's most powerful business leaders.
Ian Bremmer, the founder of the Eurasia Group think tank, was more emphatic.
"If the National Enquirer has photos of @JeffBezos d ***, do not tell me that China does not have @AMazon IP and its strategy," he tweeted.
Call increase
Since the revelations about Bezos, whose fortune is estimated at more than $ 130 billion, computer security experts surveyed by AFP report an increase in calls from wealthy clients asking them to verify that their computer systems and devices have not been hacked.
"Today's threats, however, do not necessarily attempt to cross the castle walls, they are already inside and reside on personal devices," said founder Kris Coleman. from Red Five Security. "Experience has shown that the typical breach is not discovered until eight months".
In this increasingly connected era, more and more personal data is stored online – from social security numbers to bank details, to driver's license numbers and personal addresses.
As a result, security measures for the very wealthy have shifted from sophisticated bodyguards and alarms to risk management to protect their badets, image and "legacy".
The super-rich will generally have their own computer security service and will also use external companies for regular evaluation of their devices because a large number of hacks are detected by third parties, according to observers.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, spent $ 7.3 million for his security in 2017, against $ 4.2 million in 2015 – astronomical amounts that the social network has deemed justified because of its notoriety.
Last July, Facebook said it would give him $ 10 million more per year to boost his security.
"Protection against complicit insiders working in positions of trust, or against an intelligence agency that tries to attack from the outside will require a significant investment, a lot of experience and vigilance," said Coleman.
entourage
For Johnson, "nobody's data is so well protected – think of all the third-party platforms that have your social security number, banking information, or personal photos."
Just days before Bezos revealed that a tabloid had obtained his intimate selfies, another billionaire, Joe Ricketts, founder of TD broker Ameritrade Holding Corporation, was caught in scandal after the publication of private messages.
The American news site Splinter has released a series of racist emails from Ricketts, without saying how he got them.
The exchanges, some dating back to 2009, show that this 77-year-old woman shared and apparently subscribed to racist jokes and conspiracy theories. He has since apologized.
In August 2015, a cyber-attack on the Ashley-Madison extramarital dating site revealed that American billionaire Dan Loeb had an account there.
Bezos did not explain how the National Enquirer had obtained his photos, but experts say the most common method is for a hacker to impersonate a member of the entourage from one person.
"The opponent would send a message to the target by asking him to click on a link in a text or an e-mail," explained Coleman. "The true identity of the sender is hidden, but the target trusts his friend's message and clicks on the link to unlock malicious software or another type of attack on that device."
(With the exception of the title, this story was not changed by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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