Meta seeks contempt ruling against NSO Group over alleged WhatsApp targeting
The tech giant has filed a federal US court motion alleging violations of a permanent injunction, supported by 12 civil rights organisations opposing the firm’s appeal.
Meta has filed a federal US court contempt order against Israeli spyware firm NSO Group, alleging the company violated a permanent injunction that barred it from targeting WhatsApp and its users. The legal motion follows the disruption of new spear-phishing attempts linked to NSO, which the company described as similar to previous "1-click" campaigns.
In a statement, Meta confirmed that its WhatsApp messaging service intercepted these attempts, which aimed to trick users into clicking malicious links that directed them to external websites. The company noted that a "1-click" attack is a cyberattack where a single click on a malicious link or attachment is sufficient to compromise a victim’s device or account, without requiring credential entry.
Meta reported that it took down test accounts and groups created by NSO on its platform. The company stated that no signs of compromise were detected among the identified targets, with the campaign involving fewer than 10 users, primarily located in Jordan and Lebanon. NSO did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The dispute is part of a broader legal battle dating back to 2019, when Meta sued NSO Group over the use of its Pegasus spyware against human rights activists, journalists, and politicians. NSO Group is an entity blacklisted by the United States government for engaging in activities contrary to national security or foreign policy interests, and faces ongoing accusations of enabling human rights abuses through its hacking tool.
Last year, a US court ordered NSO to stop targeting Meta’s WhatsApp, reducing punitive damages owed from $167m to $4m, though the injunction remained in place. NSO had previously warned that the ruling could put it out of business. 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.
