The Spyware Maker NSO Group will have to pay more than $ 167 million in Whatsapp compensation for a 2019 hacking campaign against more than 1,400 users.
On Tuesday, after a five -year legal battle, a jury decided that the NSO Group has to pay $ 167,254,000 in damages and about $ 444,719 in damages.
This is a huge legal victory for whatsapp, which had asked for more than $ 400,000 In compensation allowances, on the time that its employees had to devote to restore attacks, investigate them and promote corrections to repair the vulnerability abused by the NSO group, as well as unspecified compensation.
WhatsApp spokesman Zade Alsawah said in a statement that “our judicial case has made the story as the first victory against the illegal spyware that threatens the security and privacy of all”.
Alsawah said the decision “is an important step forward to protect privacy and security as the first victory against the development and use of illegal spyware that threatens the security and privacy of all.
NSO Group Gil Lainer’s spokesman left the door open to appeal.
“We will carefully look at the details of the verdict and seek appropriate legal corrective actions, including further procedures and appeal,” Lainer said in a statement.
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The trial, as well as the entire lawsuit, caused a series of revelations, such as the position of the victims of the 2019 Spyware campaign, as well as the names of some of the NSO customers.
The decision marks the end – pending a possible appeal – a legal battle that began more than five years ago, when WhatsApp filed a lawsuit against the Spyware manufacturer. The company’s post-ownership accused the NSO group for access to whatsApp servers and took advantage of a vulnerability of the conversation to target about 1,400 people, including dissidents, human rights activists and journalists.
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Cathcart, the head of Whatsapp, explained the reasoning of the lawsuit In a Washington Post Op-Es At that time, where he said that “this should serve as an invitation to awaken for technology companies, governments and all internet users.
Last December, Whatsapp won. Judge Phyllis Hamilton, who chaired the case, ruled that the NSO group was responsible for violating the laws of federal and California in the 2019 Spyware campaign against 1,400 Whatsapp users. The judge decided that the NSO Group was also responsible for violating WhatsApp’s terms of service, which prohibit the use of the application for malicious purposes.
Cathcart celebrated the December decision Saying in a post x That it was “a huge victory for privacy”, and that “surveillance companies should be notified that illegal espionage will not be tolerated”.
At that point, the case proceeded with the jury trial to determine what hurts the Spyware company that is due to whatsapp, which has been completed.
John Scott-Rilton, a senior researcher in Lab Lab, where he has studied the Spyware industry for more than a decade, celebrated the decision.
“This is an incredible time for those of us who are around the beginning of the Mercenary Spyware research,” Scott-Railton told TechCrunch. “The NSO makes many millions of dollars that help dictators hit people, after years of every trick and delay tactic, it only took the jury to see the heart of the subject: NSO’s business is based on US hacking companies … so that dictators can lose them.”
“The company arises from this trial seriously damaged. In addition to the huge compensation, the biggest impact of this case was also a huge blow to the NSO’s efforts to hide their business activities,” Scott-Rilton said.
This story has been informed to include comments from Whatsapp and John Scott-Rilton.
