A federal judge has granted Meta-owned WhatsApp’s request for a everlasting injunction blocking Israeli cyberintelligence company NSO Group from targeting the messaging app’s users. At the identical time, the judge dramatically reduced the effective that NSO Group must pay to Meta.
Earlier this yr, a jury decided that the cyberintelligence company would must pay Meta greater than $167 million following a 2019 campaign that targeted greater than 1,400 WhatsApp users, including human rights activists and journalists.
Nonetheless, U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton ruled Friday that since the court didn’t have enough evidence to find out that NSO Group’s behavior was “particularly egregious,” the punitive damages ratio was capped at 9 to 1, reducing the payment to around $4 million.
In an announcement provided to Courthouse News Service, Head of WhatsApp Will Cathart said the ruling “bans spyware maker NSO from ever targeting WhatsApp and our global users again.”
“We applaud this decision that comes after six years of litigation to carry NSO accountable for targeting members of civil society,” Cathart said.
NSO Group recently confirmed that it’s being acquired by U.S. investors.