Meta awarded $167.25 million over Pegasus spyware attack
1 min read
Summary
NSO has been told to pay $167.25m in damages to Meta after a US federal jury found the Israeli spyware vendor liable for hacking various targets via WhatsApp between 2019 and 2020.
The exact number of victims, who included activists, journalists and diplomats, is 1,400.
The hack worked by installing Pegasus via a missed call on target devices, enabling the tool to access cameras, microphones, location data, emails and text messages.
This is the first time a court has ruled on the legality of NSO’s practices, and the first time a judgement has been made against the company, which says it will appeal the decision.
It marks a significant step forward in holding the spyware industry to account, according to Meta.