US Judge Holds NSO Group Accountable for WhatsApp Pegasus Hack
Late Friday, a US judge ruled that the maker of Pegasus spyware, NSO Group Technologies, is liable for hacking into WhatsApp. Meta’s messaging app had accused the Israeli company of using Pegasus to infect and surveil the phones of 1,400 people during a two-week period in May 2019.
Judge Phyllis Hamilton found that NSO Group violated US state and federal hacking laws, as well as WhatsApp’s terms of service. The company now faces a jury trial in March 2025 to determine the damages owed to WhatsApp, the world’s most popular messaging platform.
WhatsApp proved jubilant over the decision, saying, “After five years of litigation, today’s ruling feels so good. NSO can no longer evade responsibility for its illegal attacks against WhatsApp, journalists, human rights activists, and civil society. This should be a warning to spyware companies that illegal conduct will not be tolerated.”
NSO Group has not responded to requests for comment.
The judge’s summary judgment highlighted that NSO Group violated the US Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. While Apple had also sued NSO, it dropped the case in September.
Throughout the litigation, the judge noted, NSO Group had been uncooperative. Hamilton ordered the company to provide the source code for Pegasus in early 2024 but found that NSO made the process “impracticable” by allowing access only in Israel and only to an Israeli citizen. As a result, sanctions were granted against the company.
NSO has consistently argued that its government clients control Pegasus’s use. However, court filings showed NSO itself was responsible for installing the spyware and extracting data. Pegasus was used to infiltrate WhatsApp and iPhones, stealing photos, emails, and texts.
Victims of the hack identified by Meta include government officials, journalists, human rights activists, political dissidents, and diplomats. In 2021, the US government blacklisted NSO Group, barring its agencies from purchasing Pegasus, which has been linked to hacks by authoritarian regimes worldwide.
- Published By Team Nation Press News
