The social network sued the NSO Group in 2019 over its Pegasus spyware.
A jury has decided that the makers of Pegasus spyware have to pay Meta more than $167 million because they used WhatsApp to spread malware. The ruling is a major win for Meta, which has been embroiled in litigation with NSO Group for years.
Meta sued NSO Group in 2019 for its Pegasus spyware. At that time, Meta said that spyware had been used to target more than 1,400 people in 20 countries, such as journalists and civil rights activists. The company said the spyware was installed via video calls, with the malware delivered whether or not the calls were answered. Last year, a judge concluded that the Israeli company had violated the US Computer Fraud and Abuse Act in favor of Meta. The verdict was the result of a week-long jury trial to determine how much NSO should compensate Meta.
The jury awarded Meta $444,719 in compensatory damages, as well as $167,254,000 in punitive damages. Carl Woog, WhatsApp’s VP of global communications, said in a statement that the ruling would be “an important deterrent to this malicious industry and its illegal practices against American companies and the security and privacy of the people that we serve.”
NSO Group, a self-proclaimed “cyber intelligence” company, has said that it cannot use Pegasus on US phone numbers. In court, the firm argued that WhatsApp was not damaged in any way by Pegasus, according to Courthouse News Service.
In a statement, NSO’s Gil Lainer said this week’s decision is just “another step in a long judicial process” and that it may seek “further proceedings” or an appeal. “We are confident that our technology is critical for the prevention of serious crime and terrorism and is used legally and responsibly,” Lainer said. “This perspective, supported by extensive real-world evidence and countless security operations that have saved many lives, including American lives, was not considered by the jury in this case.”
Meta expects that securing payments from NSO will be tough going forward. “This is a long road to collect on damages,” Woog said. “Ultimately, we would like to make a contribution to digital rights organizations that are fighting back against these threats around the world.” He also said that Meta intends to ask a judge to order NSO not to target WhatsApp again.
