WhatsApp messenger wins in Pegasus illegal surveillance case

WhatsApp has announced a legal victory over the developer of Pegasus spyware, Israeli company NSO Group Technologies. This is a lawsuit in which the messenger, owned by Meta Platforms, accused the Israeli software developer of spying on the smartphones of 1,400 people for two weeks in May 2019.

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Judge Phyllis Hamilton found during the hearing that NSO Group violated US federal information security laws, as well as the rules for using the WhatsApp messenger. In March next year, the NSO Group case will be heard by a jury, which must determine the extent of the damage caused to WhatsApp by the Pegasus spyware.

“After five years of litigation, we are grateful for today's decision. NSO can no longer avoid liability for unlawful attacks on WhatsApp, journalists, human rights defenders and civil society. With this ruling, companies engaged in espionage will be warned that their unlawful actions will not go unnoticed”, – WhatsApp said in a statement.

The court ruled that NSO Group violated applicable US law and also delayed the legal process. Earlier this year, Hamilton ordered the Israeli company to provide WhatsApp with the source code of its spyware. The judge's latest ruling said that NSO Group repeatedly ignored the court's demands, which was the main reason for WhatsApp's lawsuit. In fact, NSO Group provided the Pegasus source code in Israel to a citizen of that country, which did not satisfy the court in any way, since the case was heard in California.

NSO Group representatives have repeatedly stated that the company's government clients use the Pegasus software at their own discretion and that they are responsible for the hacking attacks. However, during the investigation it was found that this is not so. The court found that NSO Group is the party that “installs and extracts” information using Pegasus, which was used to spy on WhatsApp users, as well as iPhone owners. The court also found that the victims of the hacking included high-ranking government officials, journalists, human rights activists, political dissidents and diplomats.