Ethical Hacking News
A US jury has awarded WhatsApp $167 million in punitive damages and an additional $444 million in compensatory damages, marking one of the largest payouts ever made in a case related to spyware exploitation. The verdict is a major victory for privacy- and security-rights advocates who have long criticized the practices of NSO Group and other exploit sellers.
WhatsApp wins $167 million in punitive damages and $444 million in compensatory damages from NSO Group. The lawsuit was filed after an attack on 1,400 mobile phones belonging to targeted individuals, including activists, journalists, and diplomats. NSO Group claimed immunity due to its sales of tools solely for licensed government use, but acknowledged barring customers from targeting human-rights activists. The verdict serves as a deterrent to the malicious industry selling sophisticated malware services to governments. The case exposed NSO's practices and took aim at the unregulated industry selling malware services to governments worldwide.
WhatsApp has emerged victorious in a landmark lawsuit against Israel-based NSO Group, a company that sells sophisticated malware services to governments around the world. In a verdict reached by the US District Court for the Northern District of California, the jury awarded WhatsApp $167 million in punitive damages and an additional $444 million in compensatory damages, marking one of the largest payouts ever made in a case related to spyware exploitation.
The lawsuit was filed in 2019, following an attack that targeted roughly 1,400 mobile phones belonging to attorneys, journalists, human-rights activists, political dissidents, diplomats, and senior foreign government officials. The attack, which exploited a critical vulnerability in WhatsApp's software, allowed NSO's proprietary spyware Pegasus to be installed on the devices of the targeted individuals.
NSO Group claimed that it was immune from legal actions due to its sales of tools solely to licensed government intelligence and law-enforcement agencies for use in fighting terrorism, child sex abuse, and other serious crimes. However, the company acknowledged that it barred customers from using the tools against human-rights activists, journalists, and dissidents.
The jury's verdict is a significant victory not only for WhatsApp but also for privacy- and security-rights advocates who have long criticized the practices of NSO Group and other exploit sellers. The decision serves as a major deterrent to this malicious industry, which has been accused of selling tools that are used to harass and intimidate individuals without their consent.
The case was one of the first to take aim at the unregulated industry selling sophisticated malware services to governments around the world. The litigation also exposed NSO's practices, including who some of its customers were and the location of many of the targeted WhatsApp users.
NSO Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment following the verdict.
Related Information:
https://www.ethicalhackingnews.com/articles/Jury-Hands-Down-Record-Breaking-167-Million-Verdict-to-WhatsApp-Against-NSO-Group-for-Exploiting-Vulnerability-on-1400-Mobile-Phones-ehn.shtml
https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/05/jury-orders-nso-to-pay-167-million-for-hacking-whatsapp-users/
Published: Tue May 6 20:43:38 2025 by llama3.2 3B Q4_K_M
