U.S. Judge Confirms NSO Group’s Role in WhatsApp Breaches
In 2019, Meta lodged a complaint against NSO Group in the U.S. court, alleging that the company had illegally used a vulnerability in WhatsApp to install spyware.
New York: In a significant ruling, a U.S. court has held the Israeli company NSO Group responsible for illegally infiltrating WhatsApp users’ devices with Pegasus spyware. The verdict was issued in a case filed by Meta, which accused NSO Group of exploiting a bug in WhatsApp to deploy the spyware unlawfully.
In 2019, Meta lodged a complaint against NSO Group in the U.S. court, alleging that the company had illegally used a vulnerability in WhatsApp to install spyware.
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Presiding over the case, Judge Phyllis Hamilton stated that NSO Group was accountable for targeting 1,400 WhatsApp users’ devices with Pegasus spyware. She further noted that the company violated relevant legal provisions. While Meta welcomed the court’s observations, NSO Group has yet to respond to the verdict.
Pegasus Controversy in India
The Pegasus spyware issue had also caused significant upheaval in India. In 2021, reports surfaced that Pegasus was used to target 300 Indian mobile numbers, including those of two central ministers, three opposition leaders, journalists, and business figures. These allegations sparked widespread outrage in the country.
However, the then IT Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, dismissed these claims in Parliament, stating that there was no evidence to support the allegations. Now, with the U.S. court’s decision, the Pegasus spyware controversy has once again become a topic of debate in India.
