Israeli software company NSO Group’s Spy Software, Pegasus, recently came up with a large -scale cyber attack on WhatsApp in 2019. WhatsApp, under the roof of meta, filed a lawsuit against NSO, claiming that approximately 1,400 users have been targeted with this software. At the last hearing of this case in California, NSO Group’s lawyer Joe Akotirianakis drew attention. For the first time, the names of some customers of the company were directly shared with the public.
According to the statements reflected in the court minutes, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan are among the customers using NSO Group’s Pegasus software. This statement has been an important development in terms of disrupting the company’s silence for years. NSO Group has always avoided explaining its customers before, defending it for contracts and security reasons. However, this time, some countries were clearly pronounced.
Attorney Akrotirianakis, the name of at least eight countries in the case of the file is included in the file, he said. However, the name of only three countries was announced directly during the hearing. This shows that the Privacy Policy implemented by NSO Group so far is eroded in the judicial process. In addition, a list of countries with 1,223 victims announced at the hearing may indirectly point to other customers.
NSO Group’s Pegasus software allowed to be used only in licensed areas. However, in some cases there are allegations that these limits may have been violated. In particular, the past documents show that some users have been followed outside their countries. For example, the monitoring of the child of a Mexican journalist living in the USA.
Nevertheless, the name of Saudi Arabia is not included in the public list. Nevertheless, NSO lawyer drew attention to the fact that Saudi Arabia directly chant as a customer. This inconsistency suggests that some countries have the authority to monitor targets outside their borders. But such practices should be controversial both ethical and legally.
WhatsApp aims for more than compensation
WhatsApp does not only request compensation in the case; It also aims to permanently prevent NSO Group’s intervention in the platform. WhatsApp spokesman said that they will follow this case to the end to protect user privacy. In addition, new evidence is expected to come up in the later stages of the case. In particular, the detailed examination of the activities of customer countries will gain importance in this process.
NSO Group’s lawyers claimed that some countries are customers. However, the judge said there was not enough clarity about the customers in the documents submitted to the case. The Court said that the company needs more information to assess whether it is ethically used Pegasus. On the other hand, how the customer uses software still remains unclear.
The association of Pegasus software with human rights violations in recent years makes this case even more critical. Organizations such as Citizen Lab and Amnesty International have documented that software is used to target activists, journalists and opponents. Countries such as Mexico, Hungary and the United Arab Emirates were at the focus of these reports. NSO Group’s court process continues, such cases will be more likely to come up.