WhatsApp has gotten further victory in the case against NSO Group after a U.S. jury ordered the Israeli spyware company to pay more than $167 million in damages for hacking the accounts of over 1,400 users.
The decision comes after five years of courtroom appearances led by NSO’s covert use of its surveillance tool, Pegasus, to exploit a vulnerability in the messaging app.
The judgment, delivered in a California federal court, includes $167,254,000 in punitive damages and an additional $444,719 in compensatory payments to cover the disruption caused to WhatsApp’s operations.
For the Meta-owned company, this is a rare legal blow to a spyware vendor with a long history of enabling government surveillance against journalists, dissidents, and civil society figures.
In a direct response to the ruling, WhatsApp’s spokesperson Zade Alsawah stated: “Our court case has made history as the first victory against illegal spyware that threatens the safety and privacy of everyone.”
The 2019 breach, which exploited WhatsApp’s call feature, allowed Pegasus to infiltrate users’ devices even if the call wasn’t answered. Victims were spread across at least 20 countries and included human rights activists, journalists, and government officials.
Meta’s legal team argued that NSO Group not only violated state and federal laws but also breached WhatsApp’s terms of service, which explicitly prohibit malicious access.
The judge in the case, Phyllis Hamilton, had already ruled in December that NSO was legally liable, and this week’s verdict focused solely on damages.
The outcome may resonate far beyond WhatsApp or Meta. As the trial unfolded, the inner workings of NSO Group’s operations were exposed, including client lists and the extent of its surveillance infrastructure.
Will Cathcart, the head of WhatsApp, had previously warned: “This should serve as a wake-up call for technology companies, governments and all Internet users. Tools that enable surveillance into our private lives are being abused, and the proliferation of this technology into the hands of irresponsible companies and governments puts us all at risk.”
Despite the scale of the damages, NSO Group has not backed down. Its spokesperson, Gil Lainer, suggested the company would not accept the decision quietly: “We will carefully examine the verdict’s details and pursue appropriate legal remedies, including further proceedings and an appeal.”
NSO has consistently argued that its spyware serves national security interests by assisting governments in tackling crime and terrorism.
But critics reject this defence. John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at Citizen Lab and long-time investigator of NSO, described the ruling as a turning point:
“NSO makes many millions of dollars helping dictators hack people. After years of every trick and delay tactic, it only took the jury a day’s deliberation to see right through to the heart of the matter: NSO’s business is based on hacking American companies…so that dictators can hack dissidents.”
He added: “The company emerges from this trial severely damaged. Aside from the huge punitive damages, the bigger impact of this case has also been a huge blow to NSO’s efforts to hide their business activities.”
Meta has indicated that the damages will be channelled to organisations working to defend digital rights and protect users against invasive surveillance.
This case with WhatsApp may not be the last challenge for NSO Group. The U.S. Commerce Department had already sanctioned the company in 2021, and tech giants like Apple have pursued similar legal action.
