Five years ago, WhatsApp sued Israel-based NSO Group for developing Pegasus spyware. Pegasus was used to spy on the phones of journalists, politicians, NGO workers and anyone seen as opposing the regime that bought Pegasus. The most notable victim of Pegasus was Jamal Khashoggi, who was later killed by Saudi Arabian intelligence agencies.
Now, NSO Group has been found liable in a lawsuit filed by WhatsApp. It violates the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the California Comprehensive Computer Fraud and Data Access Act, and breach of contract.
Previously, NSO Group argued that it was not liable if its software was misused by customers. But as previously reported, the Israeli government intervened in the sale of Pegasus to the Saudi government despite the risk that it could be misused to spy on individuals.
The case will continue in March next year with WhatsApp seeking damages on behalf of 1,400 users of its software who were affected by Pegasus spying.