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| Facebook continues to fight WhatsApp hackers |
While a federal judge in California ruled that Facebook, which spies on the NSO group, can monitor thousands of WhatsApp users, Facebook continues to fight the hijacker law on WhatsApp.
Facebook, which filed a lawsuit last year, claimed that NSO Group, a popular Pegasus software developer, used WhatsApp vulnerabilities to distribute its malware to human rights defenders, journalists, and journalists from opposition parties.
The new Facebook decision to fight WhatsApp hackers is a blow to the Israeli software developer, who has vehemently denied these allegations and campaigned for the court to reject the trial in April.
By allowing the judge to continue, he denied most of the NSO's arguments and gave the company the opportunity to disclose information about its customers and their espionage targets.
The decision confirms that WhatsApp will be able to obtain relevant documents and other information about NSO Group practices.
A WhatsApp spokesperson appreciated the decision. He said: "We are happy with the court's decision that will allow us to continue accusing the illegal activities of the NSO Group."
He added: "Let the NSO Group take responsibility for the attacks on WhatsApp and its users (including journalists, human rights defenders, and government officials) today."
The judge ruled that the NSO group could not use the defense method known as "sovereign immunity" that nation states use to defend themselves to avoid causing civilian harm in other countries.
This method allows the company to keep customer contact information in court.
The NSO Group had hoped to be able to use it because its customers are sovereign states, they use their products for national security reasons, and they will not file civil claims in the United States.
A NSO Group spokesman said: The legal team is reviewing the court's decision. Our technology is used to save lives and prevent terrorism and crime all over the world. We will continue to believe that our actions are legal.
Shortly thereafter, an Israeli judge decided to allow the NSO Group to continue selling their technology outside of Israel, and soon Facebook started fighting WhatsApp hackers.
NSO Group has long been looking for ways to hope that the company will not engage in the use of spyware.
The company said: To avoid accusations against dissidents and journalists, our technology can only be used by government intelligence agencies and law enforcement agencies to combat terrorism and crime.
There have recently been allegations about the use of NSO espionage measures against Catalan politicians fighting for independence. It is reported that the information against the perpetrators is unknown, but the Spanish government is an agent of the NSO group.