The question of whether the Pegasus spyware used by the government and police to track smartphones is used to target activists, journalists and others not involved in the activities nefarious or not after WhatsApp’s lawsuit against Israeli technology company NSO Group.
The US Supreme Court on Monday rejected NSO Group’s request to block a WhatsApp lawsuit accusing the Israeli technology company of allowing journalists and human rights activists to commit cyber espionage. series.
The Supreme Court rejected NSO’s plea for legal immunity and ruled that the lawsuit, targeting the company’s Pegasus software, can continue in California. federal courta court filing shows.
Pegasus offers its government customers—supposedly including Mexico, Hungary, Morocco, and India—almost complete access to a target’s device, including personal data, photos, messages, and messages. their position.
WhatsApp spokesman Carl Woog said: “We are grateful to see that the Supreme Court has dismissed NSO’s baseless petition.
“We firmly believe that their activities violate US law and that they should be held accountable for their illegal activities.”
Meta-owned messaging service WhatsApp sued the Israeli tech company in 2019, accusing it of targeting around 1,400 devices with spyware to steal information from people using the app.
“NSO Spyware Triggered Targeted Cyber Attacks human rights activistreporters and Government officials“Woog said.
NSO’s Pegasus software is described in court filings as allowing “law enforcement and intelligence agencies to extract valuable intelligence remotely and secretly from virtually any mobile device.”
The WhatsApp lawsuit says Pegasus was designed to be installed remotely to hijack devices using the Android, iOS and BlackBerry operating systems.
NSO argues that it only markets Pegasus to governments, and that it provides authorities with a method to conduct legitimate criminal investigations into WhatsApp’s encrypted messaging service.
“Meta has repeatedly impeded law enforcement’s ability to legitimately investigate criminals using WhatsApp to commit serious crimes and acts of terrorism,” an NSO spokesperson said in response. investigation by AFP.
“We are confident that the court will determine that the customer’s use of Pegasus is lawful.”
Many countries, including the United States, rely on private contractors, and the question of when these companies can seek immunity from lawsuits has significant foreign policy implications. told the Supreme Court.
Apple in 2021 also filed a lawsuit against NSO, accusing the Israeli company of targeting iPhones.
Apple’s lawsuit comes shortly after it was revealed that tens of thousands of activists, journalists and politicians were listed as potential targets of the company’s Pegasus spyware.
© 2023 AFP
quote: US top court upsends WhatsApp case over Pegasus spyware (2023, Jan 9) retrieved Jan 9, 2023 from https://techxplore.com/news/2023-01 -court-whatsapp-pegasus-spyware.html
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