WhatsApp sues Israeli firm NSO for helping govt spies hack phones

WhatsApp, the messaging service application, has reportedly sued NSO Group which is an Israeli surveillance firm on October 29. The lawsuit has accused the firm of helping government spies hack phones of roughly 1,400 users across four continents. The targets mostly included diplomats, political dissidents, journalists, and senior government officials. WhatsApp claims that the surveillance firm has violated American law in an “unmistakable pattern of abuse.”

The lawsuit filed in federal court in San Francisco has been however disputed by the NSO Group as it said in a statement:

“In the strongest possible terms, we dispute today's allegations and will vigorously fight them.” The Group further added, “The sole purpose of the NSO is to provide technology to licensed government intelligence and law enforcement agencies to help them fight terrorism and serious crime.” 

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WhatsApp demands a permanent injunction

WhatsApp believes the technology sold by NSO was used to target its users in 20 different countries during a 14-day period from the end of April to the middle of May. The Facebook-owned company has demanded a permanent injunction blocking NSO from attempting to access WhatsApp computer systems and Facebook. It further has also asked the court to rule that the firm violated US federal law and California state law against computer fraud breached their contracts with WhatsApp and wrongfully trespassed on Facebook's property. 

“This is the first time that an encrypted messaging provider is taking legal action against a private entity that has carried out this type of attack against its users,” Said WhatsApp

“In our complaint, we explain how NSO carried out this attack, including acknowledgment from an NSO employee that our steps to remediate the attack were effective.” 

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The NSO surveillance tool called Pegasus has already been implicated in a series of human rights abuses across Latin America and the Middle East. The firm, however, came under harsh scrutiny over the allegations that its spyware played a role in the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul a little over a year ago. The messaging service app had been working with Citizen Lab, an academic research group based at the University of Toronto's Munk School, to identify the victims of the attacks and the technology used against them. 

“There must be strong legal oversight of cyber-weapons like the one used in this attack to ensure they are not used to violate individual rights and freedoms people deserve wherever they are in the world.” It further added, “Human rights groups have documented a disturbing trend that such tools have been used to attack journalists and human rights defenders.” 

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