U.S. court orders Israeli spyware firm NSO to stop spying on WhatsApp users

A U.S. court has ordered Israel’s NSO Group to stop targeting Meta’s WhatsApp messaging service. – File photo SAN FRANCISCO — Last week, a federal court in Northern California issued an injunction prohibiting the Israeli spyware company NSO Group from targeting and spying on users of WhatsApp, one of the world’s most widely used communication platforms, according to Reuters. However, the ruling by Judge Phyllis Hamilton significantly reduced the damages the Israeli company was ordered to pay Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp — from $167 million to $4 million. The judge said NSO’s conduct did not rise to the level of being “sufficiently egregious” to justify the larger financial penalty set earlier by a jury. In the 25-page decision, Judge Hamilton wrote that the court “concluded that the defendants’ conduct causes irreparable harm and, given there is no dispute over its continuation”, granted Meta’s request for an injunction to halt NSO Group’s spying operations against WhatsApp users. The ruling prevents NSO Group, the spyware manufacturer, from targeting WhatsApp and our users around the world ever again. — Will Cathcart, CEO of WhatsApp The injunction represents a major setback for NSO Group, which for years has faced accusations of facilitating human
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