NSO Group Found Liable for Hacking WhatsApp to Install Spyware

A federal judge in California has declared that Israel-based NSO Group violated the U.S. Computer Fraud and Abuse Act when it designed its Pegasus phone spyware to leverage Meta's WhatsApp servers. NSO sells Pegasus to governments and law enforcement around the world. One of the ways Pegasus spyware can be installed on a victim's phone is via a modified WhatsApp client that uses WhatsApp servers. The spyware is installed remotely and silently, without user interaction. Meta claims that happened to more than a thousand targeted phones. The case will continue, to determine the civil damages owed by NSO. The case could be appealed.