Saudi cyber team tried to hack the Guardian following Jamal Khashoggi death

Journalists have been told to protect themselves.

A cyber team in Saudi Arabia attempted to hack into the Guardian's systems earlier this year, it has been revealed.

According to a report from human rights activist Agnes Callamard, a specialist unit was told to hack into the accounts of journalists working on stories related to the Saudi Arabian royal court.

In this report, Callamard discusses her concerns following the killing of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi. He was assassinated by Saudi government agents in October 2018, and the case has shone a light on the threat faced by journalists.

As the Guardian writes, in the aftermath of Khashoggi's death, Saudi hackers were issued with an order to attack the paper's servers "in complete secrecy". It was signed by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman's aide, Saud Al-Qahtani.

The newspaper said it "became aware of a potential threat" when it ran a story about the difficult relationship between King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and the Crown Prince, which sparked controversy in the Middle East.

When the article was published, staff at the Guardian were told to "take all necessary precautions" because Saudi's royal report was allegedly trying to identify people speaking out against the regime. A source said: "You need to protect yourselves."

Following this, the Guardian claims to have received a document written in Arabic that proves the hacking threat.

It was addressed to "heads of technological and technical departments" of a specialist cyber team managed by the Prince's office.

The memo describes "sensitive information" outlined by the Guardian report and names journalists Nick Hopkins and Stephanie Kirchgaessner.

It reads: "Based on what was published in the British newspaper, the Guardian, in its issue published on 28/6/1440 AH (March 6, 2019), and which includes sensitive information on the relationship between the custodian of the two holy mosques and his highness the Crown Prince, may God keep them, and due to what this constitutes in terms of grave security threats and what we knew in advance of the existence of some moves against the position of his highness the Crown Prince.

"We have conducted a preliminary tracking of the newspaper's leaks, and have determined that they have two primary communication points in London, UK, and Washington, US. It appears to us that there is a strong relationship between the individuals mentioned below and the source (or sources) of the leaks.

"Based on this, carry out the penetration of the servers of the Guardian newspaper and those who worked on the report that was published, and deal with the issue with complete secrecy, then send us all the data as soon as possible."

Earlier this year Saudi Arabia was accused of hacking the phone of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and passing the details of an extramarital affair to the National Inquirer.

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