Spyware attack on WhatsApp: 168 million US dollars in damages for Meta
Because the NSO Group violated laws with spyware attacks on WhatsApp and caused costs for Meta, the company is to pay 168 million US dollars.
Whatsapp app on smartphone
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Five months after WhatsApp won its legal battle against spyware manufacturer NSO Group, a jury has awarded the messenger from US company Meta almost 168 million US dollars (around 148 million euros) in damages. This was reported by the court magazine Courthouse News Service, citing the decision made in California. According to the ruling, the sum consists of almost USD 445,000 in compensation for repairing the damage caused by the attacks by the Israeli company and more than USD 167 million in pure damages. Meta welcomed the decision and described it as an important deterrent against the "malicious industry".
The case concerned allegations that the NSO Group had violated various laws, including the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, by providing and installing the Pegasus spyware. Meta had filed a lawsuit because WhatsApp was found to have unlawfully accessed its own servers in early 2019, enabling NSO to monitor 1,400 people, including journalists and human rights activists. NSO has always argued that its own work is carried out on behalf of foreign governments and that the spyware was used to help law enforcement agencies and intelligence services fight crime.
Meta is not finished yet
At Christmas, the responsible judge ruled in favor of WhatsApp, and since then the only question was what consequences the ruling would have for the NSO Group. Now, Meta and NSO executives and developers who fought off the attack have had their say in court. According to the Courthouse News Service, the CEO of the Israeli company testified that his company was in financial difficulties and would not be able to pay damages to Meta. He has not commented on the jury's decision. However, the legal dispute is not yet over and WhatsApp is planning a permanent injunction to prohibit NSO from carrying out further attacks via WhatsApp.
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Following the ruling, WhatsApp has now published transcripts of the interviews with NSO officials"so that researchers, journalists and journalists can investigate the dangers and work to protect the public". Further transcripts from the court will be made public as soon as they are available. Meanwhile, NSO has reiterated that it continues to believe that its spyware helps in the fight against crime and is "used responsibly". This is contradicted by cyber security researcher John Scott-Railton, who helped uncover the practices. He writes on X: "Nobody likes companies that help dictators hack dissidents."
(mho)
