US jury awards WhatsApp $168 million in NSO Group cyberespionage suit

A US jury on Tuesday handed WhatsApp a major victory in its cyberespionage suit against NSO Group, ordering the Israel-based firm to pay some $168 million in damages.Meta-owned WhatsApp sued NSO in late 2019 in federal court in Northern California, accusing it of planting Pegasus spy software on the smartphones of targets using the messaging app.

“This trial put spyware executives on the stand and exposed exactly how their surveillance-for-hire system — shrouded in so much secrecy — operates,” Meta said in a blog post.

“Put simply, NSO’s Pegasus…