A U.S. judge on Friday issued an injunction prohibiting the Israeli company NSO Group, known for developing spyware, from targeting WhatsApp users. However, the court reduced the damages awarded in the case from $168 million to $4 million.
اضافة اعلان
Judge Phyllis Hamilton ruled that the Israeli company’s conduct did not rise to the level of being “sufficiently egregious” to justify the jury’s earlier damages assessment.
In her ruling, reviewed by AFP, Judge Hamilton stated that the court “concludes that the defendants’ conduct causes irreparable harm, and since there is no dispute that this conduct could continue,” she granted Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, an injunction to halt the Israeli firm’s surveillance practices on the messaging service.
In a statement, Will Cathcart, WhatsApp’s CEO, said:
“Today’s ruling prevents NSO Group, the maker of spyware, from targeting WhatsApp and our users around the world ever again. We welcome this decision, which comes after six years of litigation to hold the company accountable for targeting members of civil society.”
According to the ruling, evidence presented during the trial showed that NSO Group “reverse-engineered WhatsApp’s code to secretly install spyware targeting users.” The court also found that the spyware was repeatedly redesigned to evade detection and bypass WhatsApp’s security fixes.
The lawsuit, filed in late 2019, accused NSO Group of conducting electronic surveillance on journalists, lawyers, human rights activists, and others who use the encrypted messaging service.
Nonetheless, the court found that the $168 million damages awarded earlier this year in favor of Meta were excessive.
Judge Hamilton wrote in her decision:
“There have not yet been enough cases involving illegal electronic surveillance in the smartphone era for the court to conclude that the defendants’ conduct was outrageous. Over time, a broader social consensus may emerge about the acceptability of such behavior.”
Malicious Software
Founded in 2010 by Israelis Shalev Hulio and Omri Lavie, NSO Group is headquartered in Herzliya, a high-tech hub on Israel’s Mediterranean coast near Tel Aviv. The tech media outlet TechCrunch reported Friday that an American investment group had acquired a controlling stake in the company.
NSO Group produces Pegasus, a highly invasive spyware tool capable of activating a target’s smartphone camera and microphone and accessing stored data—effectively turning the device into a portable surveillance tool.
The lawsuit, filed in a U.S. federal court in California, alleged that NSO Group attempted to infect nearly 1,400 targeted devices with malware to steal sensitive information.
Infecting smartphones or other devices used for WhatsApp communication would allow access to encrypted message content once decrypted during transmission.
The complaint stated that the attackers “developed a program that enabled them to mimic legitimate WhatsApp network traffic to deliver malicious code” and take control of users’ devices. Independent experts identified that the software was being used by governments, some of which have poor human rights records.
NSO Group maintains that it licenses its software exclusively to governments for the purposes of combating crime and terrorism. — (AFP)
