The abductors obtained that information through his fiance's iPhone. This iPhone was infected with NSO's Pegasus malware and the infection was executed by sending a zero-click text message with automatic payload delivery. There isn't a notification when the message is received so the fiance wouldn't have known it was happening.
This zero-click iMessage exploit is unique to iPhones.
You missed my point.
With an adversary that sophisticated, the actual method of compromise doesn’t matter. If he had an android the result would have been the same. Or a flip phone, or a landline, or if he lived in a cave.
Your point is that the device doesn't matter. If Khashoggi and his fiance had Android devices and used an encrypted messaging app such as Signal (or something similar like Session, Briar, etc.) his abduction would not have occurred as it did (even if MBS and his cohorts had control of an operator at the telecom).
As I said, the zero-click exploit is exclusive to iPhones using iMessage. An Android device that receives a similar SMS requires the user's knowledge and willful intent in order to activate. The last zero-click SMS exploit had been patched back in 2015.
So the device (and protocol) does actually matter.
