The popular WhatsApp messaging service has been taboo for months for employees of the United Nations. The organization does not think the app is secure enough.
The ban became known when a journalist asked about the WhatsApp use of UN chief Guterres following the hack by Amazon boss Jeff Bezos. His phone may have been infected with malware by a video he had received from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed through WhatsApp.
“All senior UN officials have been instructed not to use WhatsApp. We do not support it as a safe technique,” Guterres’ spokesperson explained. The ban applies since June last year.
WhatsApp, owned by Facebook, says that the app has the best possible security. “Every private message is encrypted so that neither WhatsApp nor others can see conversations.”
Blackmailed
Bezos had his phone examined after his private messages and photos appeared in the media. The Amazon boss argued that a gossip magazine blackmailed him with his extra-marital relationship.
The researchers discovered that shortly after WhatsApp contact with Prince Mohammed, a lot of material was downloaded from Bezos’ phone. They concluded that a video message from the Saudi leader had been infected, although no concrete evidence was provided.
Saudi Arabia is said to have influenced Bezos as the owner of the influential Washington Post, where, for example, critical journalist Jamal Kashoggi worked when he was murdered in a Saudi embassy.
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