Meta to Take Legal Action Against Israeli Spyware Company NSO

The Legal Battle Between Meta and NSO

Meta has said it is filing a federal US court contempt order against Israeli spyware firm NSO Group for violating a permanent injunction that barred it from ever targeting WhatsApp and its users.

Disrupting Spear Phishing Attempts

The company said on Monday that its WhatsApp messaging service disrupted new spear phishing attempts linked to NSO, an entity blacklisted by the United States government for engaging in activities that are contrary to national security or foreign policy interests.

The Nature of the Attacks

These attempts were similar to previous “1-click phishing campaigns”, aimed to trick users into clicking malicious links and direct them to external websites, Meta said in a blogpost. A “1-click” is a type of cyberattack where a single click on a malicious link or attachment is sufficient to compromise a victim’s device or account, without requiring them to enter their credentials.

Previous Rulings and Implications

Last year, a US court ordered NSO to stop targeting Meta’s WhatsApp, a development the spyware company warned could put it out of business. While the ruling significantly reduced the punitive damages NSO owed Meta to $4m from an initial $167m, the injunction itself was seen as a substantial challenge for the company, which faces ongoing accusations of enabling human rights abuses through its Pegasus hacking tool.

Support from Civil Rights Organisations

Meta said on Monday that last month it was joined by 12 prominent civil rights organisations, a coalition of security researchers, privacy advocates and digital rights experts, who filed their amicus briefs to fight NSO’s appeal against the permanent injunction.