WhatsApp won the developer of Spysus Spyus

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Now the Israeli NSO Group must pay the Meta Messenger company (declared an “extremist organization” in the Russian Federation and is prohibited) $ 168 million.

Photo: canva

The California court ordered the Israeli company NSO Group to pay $ 168 million META corporation in the case of an unauthorized installation of PEGASUS on the devices of WhatsApp users. This decision was the first case in history when the court recognized the company selling spy technologies guilty of illegal cyber attacks against the private platform.

The story began in 2019, when WhatsApp engineers discovered an attack that used zero day vulnerability. The malicious code penetrated the devices through one incoming call, even if the user did not answer him. According to META, about 1,400 accounts were compromised, including activists, journalists and diplomats.

Meta filed a lawsuit against NSO in October 2019. The Israeli company was accused of illegal access to WhatsApp systems and the spread of malicious in without users. The trial lasted more than four years, during which NSO tried to prove that as a contractor of states, she has immunity from judicial persecution.

However, during the trial, new facts were revealed . A related NSO structure of Westbridge, according to the court, offered Pegasus to American law enforcement agencies. In addition, within the framework of the process, the source code of Pegasus was disclosed, which allowed to better understand how exactly the hidden tracking system functions.

Pegasus is capable of imperceptibly for the owner to access information from any applications - from correspondence and calls to geolocation and photographs. Also, the program can activate the microphone and camera without user's knowledge. According to the recognition of NSO representatives, their technologies continue to work on modern devices with iOS and Android.

By a court decision, NSO should pay $ 444 thousand compensation and $ 167.3 million. Meta calls this solution an important precedent creating a restraining effect for the entire commercial espionage industry. According to representatives of the company:

“Our winning is a signal that illegal actions against American services will not remain unpunished.”

Meta intends to achieve a trial that will forever limit NSO to influence WhatsApp users. In addition, the company plans to send the received funds to organizations engaged in the protection of digital rights around the world.

Citizen Lab, a Canadian laboratory specializing in digital security, actively joined the investigation of the incident. They helped identify the victims and collect technical evidence. The participation of a large technological company, as experts note, significantly increased the awareness of the company on the scale of the threat.

The NSO Group has already announced the intention to dispute the court decision, insisting on the legitimacy of its activities and emphasizing that its technologies are used exclusively for national security purposes. Nevertheless, the court decision was an important step in the struggle for the privacy of users and the restriction of abuse in the field of digital supervision.

It is also worth recalling that in 2021 Apple joined the lawsuit against NSO, accusing the company of monitoring the iPhone users. Among the goals of Pegasus were statesmen, diplomats and opposition journalists, including the murdered Jamal Khashoggi, although NSO denies this connection. In 2023, the US Supreme Court refused to recognize NSO immunity, and the path to the final verdict was opened.