NSO Group Fined $168 Million for WhatsApp Spy Attack

A U.S. federal jury has ordered Israeli cyber-intelligence firm NSO Group to pay approximately $168 million in damages to WhatsApp, owned by Meta Platforms Inc., over the unauthorized use of its servers to deploy the Pegasus spyware tool. The decision follows a federal judge’s earlier finding that NSO Group violated U.S. law by targeting more than 1,400 individuals globally through WhatsApp’s infrastructure.

The jury’s verdict, delivered on Tuesday, comes more than four years after WhatsApp filed the lawsuit in 2019, accusing NSO of exploiting a vulnerability in its platform to install surveillance software on users’ devices. The spyware campaign reportedly affected journalists, activists and government officials across multiple countries.

The $168 million penalty represents a significant legal setback for NSO Group, which has faced international scrutiny over the use of Pegasus in unlawful surveillance activities. The ruling also reinforces growing legal pressure on spyware vendors operating across borders without oversight.