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The wife of the Emir of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin al Maktoum, Princess Haya, fled to England with her children. PHOTO: Reuters
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High technology is becoming an increasingly formidable weapon between warring partners
Dirty numbers during divorce are a common occurrence, but lately it seems that they are becoming more and more high-tech. The British Supreme Court ruled a few days ago that the Emir of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin al Maktoum, had ordered the hacking of the phones of his ex-wife Princess Haya, who was hiding from him in England, and her team of lawyers in the United Kingdom. In this way, he seriously interfered in British justice, as the princess’s communications were controlled at a crucial time by their divorce proceedings last year, when custody of their two children was discussed.
Their phones were infiltrated with special software developed by the Israeli company NSO Group. “Pegasus” is often called spyware because it allows you to track a person’s location through his phone, read the text messages he receives and sends, and eavesdrop on his conversations. It also provides access to his contact list, passwords, photos and application. Through it, the hacker can activate the victim’s phone, even take pictures on her screen without her knowing.
The software is said to be quite sophisticated and was used by Saudi government agents to track down dissidents abroad, including associates of journalist Jamal Hashoghi, who was killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Princess Haya’s team has learned that she was the victim of a hacker attack by the wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Cherry Blair works as a human rights consultant for the NSO and has been informed by the Israeli company that there is a suspicious use of its software in the UK. She, in turn, contacted Baroness Fiona Shackleton, one of the most famous divorce lawyers in the United Kingdom, who took over the protection of Princess Haya. An investigation in England has found that the phones of the Emir of Dubai’s ex-wife, two of her closest associates, a security guard, Baroness Shackleton and lawyer Nick Manners were attacked with a Pegasus on the orders of Sheikh Mohammed bin al. Maktum. He himself denies that he ordered such a thing and even knew about it.
However, the allegations against him are also supported by the testimony of the independent digital surveillance expert Dr. William Marchak from the University of Toronto. He told a London court that there was no doubt that the phones had been hacked with the help of Pegasus and that it was unlikely that this had been done by an operator from another country outside the United Arab Emirates.
It was also found that people close to the emir tried to buy a property in Surrey near the English home of Princess Haya, which is a very good position to observe her life. She herself admits in court that she feels constantly persecuted and has nowhere to go to protect herself from her ex-husband.
Princess Haya, who is the daughter of the late King Hussein of Jordan and the half-sister of King Abdullah II, fled Dubai in 2019 with her two children. She arrived in the UK and asked for judicial protection because she feared for their safety. As a motive, she pointed out that her husband had ordered the abduction of two of his daughters from a previous marriage, who had tried to escape his despotic behavior. According to Princess Haya’s legal team, this also happened with a hacker hacking into their phones, which allowed their location to be discovered.
Despite Sheikh Mohammed bin al-Maktoum’s denial that such things have happened, the revelations have tarnished his international reputation and, although unlikely to ever be brought to justice, they shed much light on how leading they are. occupied information technology in divorce proceedings. It turns out that there are even law firms that specialize in protecting relatives from hacker attacks.
The Canadian magazine “Family Lawyer” reports that there is an increase in the number of cases when investigations are requested on suspicions of electronic harassment of ex-spouses. The reason is that software programs that allow this are becoming more accessible. “A tracking device can be attached to a car in seconds and only takes a few minutes to access your ex-partner’s mobile phone or computer to install a program or application. Then he can track her movement, send copies of emails and text messages, “the newspaper writes. Hacking attacks are most often resorted to when one of the divorcing spouses suspects that the other is deliberately hiding part of his wealth so that it is not shared in the divorce. Or they are looking for evidence that may influence the court in determining parental rights.
In Canada, for example, there has been a case in which a custodial parent put a spy pen in his child’s backpack. The purpose is to see how he lives with the other parent and possibly to gather evidence of a bad environment, which can be used for a claim for review of the court decision.
Although the use of such technical means is prohibited and the likelihood of them being recognized during a trial is negligible, they can nevertheless provide some reliable evidence to be taken into account if it is proved that they have been lawfully collected. Therefore, the aim is usually to put them in the family home or on a home computer, to which more family members have access. Thus, it can always be said that the information gathered by hacking was obtained by chance, trying, for example, to change their passwords to access the attacked device.
For this reason, lawyers advise at the very beginning of the divorce process to change all the passwords in the breaking up family, even the key security questions, the answers to which can be easily revealed. They give examples of questions such as “which street did you live on as a child” or “which brand was your first car”, which are often used by bank information systems or financial services when suspected of hacking into customer accounts. According to them, it is good to do this, regardless of whether you suspect your ex-partner that he may resort to hacking. He may not approve of such dispute resolution methods in principle, but may be convinced in the course of the divorce that gathering compromising information about the other can help him maintain money and reputation.
If the phone is exhausted and switches off, keep one thing in mind
Signs that you may have been the victim of a hacker attack include a quick drain on the phone’s battery, it starts turning itself on and off, and an echo is heard during conversations. According to private detective and lawyer Nicholas Himonidis, the surest way to prevent intrusion into divorce is to completely change your devices and in no way connect them to the old ones so that they are not tracked.
“Replace the computer used to connect to the Internet with one that has built-in independent network access or a separate wireless card. Before transferring the necessary files to the new device, use a high-quality program for protection against viruses and hackers, “explains Himonidis. Create a new email account and passwords to unlock the means of communication. Do not access it from your old phone or computer. Disable the Bluetooth feature if you don’t need it in your daily work, as it can easily identify your new devices.
Technology is evolving so fast that it is difficult to protect yourself from all possible intrusions, but with the right strategies for using your means of communication, you can be at least one step ahead of those who want to reach them, the lawyer said.
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