A US District Court in Oakland, California, ruled in favour of WhatsApp, finding Israel’s NSO Group liable for hacking and breach of contract NSO, which was accused of installing spy software via WhatsApp to conduct unauthorized surveillance.
Judge Phyllis Hamilton upheld WhatsApp’s claims against NSO for exploiting a messaging app bug to infiltrate user devices. The trial will now focus solely on determining the damages.
Will Cathcart, head of WhatsApp, hailed the ruling as a victory for privacy. “After five years of litigation, we believe that spyware firms cannot claim immunity or evade responsibility for illegal actions,” Cathcart stated. He emphasized that the judgment serves as a warning against unlawful spying practices.
BREAKING: NSO Group liable for #Pegasus hacking of @WhatsApp users.
Big win for spyware victims.
Big loss for NSO.
Bad time to be a spyware company.
Landmark case. Huge implications. 1/ 🧵 pic.twitter.com/hLvEipf6np
— John Scott-Railton (@jsrailton) December 21, 2024Cybersecurity experts, including John Scott-Railton from Citizen Lab, viewed the judgment as groundbreaking. “This ruling is pivotal, clearly assigning responsibility to NSO Group for several legal violations, contradicting the industry’s usual disclaimers of accountability for client actions,” Scott-Railton noted.
Read: Israeli spyware company hacks through text message, case reveals
WhatsApp initiated the lawsuit in 2019, alleging NSO accessed its servers without authorization to deploy Pegasus software on victims’ mobile devices, affecting 1,400 individuals, including journalists and activists. NSO countered, arguing that Pegasus assists law enforcement in combating serious crimes and threats to national security.
Pegasus spyware maker NSO Group is liable for attacks on 1,400 WhatsApp users https://t.co/kSLhDoyzaf
— The Verge (@verge) December 21, 2024NSO’s “conduct-based immunity” appeal was denied by the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in 2021, stating that licensing Pegasus and providing technical support did not exempt it from liability under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. The US Supreme Court rejected NSO’s appeal, permitting the lawsuit to continue.
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This ruling underscores the judiciary’s stance on the accountability of spyware manufacturers and protecting privacy rights.
