{
	"id": "dd40ecb9-9033-4ea2-aeaf-775a01e7152d",
	"created_at": "2026-04-06T00:12:32.268909Z",
	"updated_at": "2026-04-10T03:20:16.529721Z",
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	"title": "Court orders maker of Pegasus spyware to hand over code to WhatsApp",
	"llm_title": "",
	"authors": "",
	"file_creation_date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
	"file_modification_date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
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	"plain_text": "Court orders maker of Pegasus spyware to hand over code to\r\nWhatsApp\r\nBy Stephanie Kirchgaessner\r\nPublished: 2024-02-29 · Archived: 2026-04-05 15:19:00 UTC\r\nNSO Group, the maker of one the world’s most sophisticated cyber weapons, has been ordered by a US court to\r\nhand its code for Pegasus and other spyware products to WhatsApp as part of the company’s ongoing litigation.\r\nThe decision by Judge Phyllis Hamilton is a major legal victory for WhatsApp, the Meta-owned communication\r\napp which has been embroiled in a lawsuit against NSO since 2019, when it alleged that the Israeli company’s\r\nspyware had been used against 1,400 WhatsApp users over a two-week period.\r\nNSO’s Pegasus code, and code for other surveillance products it sells, is seen as a closely and highly sought state\r\nsecret. NSO is closely regulated by the Israeli ministry of defence, which must review and approve the sale of all\r\nlicences to foreign governments.\r\nIn reaching her decision, Hamilton considered a plea by NSO to excuse it of all its discovery obligations in the\r\ncase due to “various US and Israeli restrictions”.\r\nUltimately, however, she sided with WhatsApp in ordering the company to produce “all relevant spyware” for a\r\nperiod of one year before and after the two weeks in which WhatsApp users were allegedly attacked: from 29\r\nApril 2018 to 10 May 2020. NSO must also give WhatsApp information “concerning the full functionality of the\r\nrelevant spyware”.\r\nHamilton did, however, decide in NSO’s favor on a different matter: the company will not be forced at this time to\r\ndivulge the names of its clients or information regarding its server architecture.\r\n“The recent court ruling is an important milestone in our long-running goal of protecting WhatsApp users against\r\nunlawful attacks. Spyware companies and other malicious actors need to understand they can be caught and will\r\nnot be able to ignore the law,” a WhatsApp spokesperson said.\r\nNSO declined to comment on the decision. The litigation is continuing.\r\nWhen it is successfully deployed against a target, NSO’s Pegasus software can hack any mobile phone, gaining\r\nunrestricted access to phone calls, emails, photographs, location information and encrypted messages without a\r\nuser’s knowledge. NSO was blacklisted by the Biden administration in 2021 after it determined the Israeli\r\nspyware maker has acted “contrary to the foreign policy and national security interests of the US”.\r\nNSO sells its spyware to government clients around the world and has said that the agencies who deploy it are\r\nresponsible for how it is used. While NSO does not disclose the names of its clients, research and media reports\r\nover the years have identified Poland, Saudi Arabia, Rwanda, India, Hungary and the United Arab Emirates as\r\nhttps://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/feb/29/pegasus-surveillance-code-whatsapp-meta-lawsuit-nso-group\r\nPage 1 of 2\n\namong the countries that have previously used the technology to target dissidents, journalists, human rights\r\nactivists and other members of civil society.\r\nNSO has argued that Pegasus helps law enforcement and intelligence agencies fight crime and protect national\r\nsecurity and that its technology is intended to help catch terrorists, child abusers and hardened criminals.\r\nThe Biden administration has raised alarms about the proliferation and abuse of products like Pegasus, saying they\r\nrepresent a potential threat to US national security and counterintelligence efforts. A new policy unveiled in early\r\nFebruary will impose global visa restrictions on individuals who have been involved in the misuse of commercial\r\nspyware, including countries in the EU and Israel.\r\nSource: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/feb/29/pegasus-surveillance-code-whatsapp-meta-lawsuit-nso-group\r\nhttps://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/feb/29/pegasus-surveillance-code-whatsapp-meta-lawsuit-nso-group\r\nPage 2 of 2",
	"extraction_quality": 1,
	"language": "EN",
	"sources": [
		"ETDA"
	],
	"references": [
		"https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/feb/29/pegasus-surveillance-code-whatsapp-meta-lawsuit-nso-group"
	],
	"report_names": [
		"pegasus-surveillance-code-whatsapp-meta-lawsuit-nso-group"
	],
	"threat_actors": [],
	"ts_created_at": 1775434352,
	"ts_updated_at": 1775791216,
	"ts_creation_date": 0,
	"ts_modification_date": 0,
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