"Meta Awarded $167 Million in Damages From Israeli Cybersecurity Firm"

The Israeli cybersecurity firm NSO Group was ordered on Tuesday to pay $167 million in damages to Meta, capping a six-year legal battle after NSO hacked 1,400 WhatsApp accounts belonging to journalists, human-rights activists and government officials.

In December, Judge Phyllis Hamilton of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that NSO Group had broken cybersecurity laws by using its popular Pegasus spying software to target phones with WhatsApp installed in 20 countries. Meta owns WhatsApp, an encrypted messaging app with over two billion users, as well as Facebook and Instagram.

In March, Meta filed a brief seeking damages from NSO Group, and last week a jury heard arguments about potential penalties. The jury awarded the damages on Tuesday after two days of deliberations.

“The jury’s verdict today to punish NSO is a critical deterrent to the spyware industry against their illegal acts aimed at American companies and our users worldwide,” Will Cathcart, the head of WhatsApp, said in a statement. “This is an industrywide threat, and it’ll take all of us to defend against it.”

WhatsApp said it would donate the damages to digital rights organizations that defend people...

Spyware, a type of software installed on phones, laptops and other electronic devices to spy on unsuspecting victims, is a growing field. NSO Group’s early spyware required that people click on text messages or images sent via WhatsApp for it to be unknowingly downloaded on their phones.

According to evidence presented at the trial, new versions could hack into a phone through a sent text message, requiring no action by the receiver. The trial also revealed that NSO Group had developed technology to hack into other messaging apps...