2024-03-01 11:10:51
PeA US court has ordered WhatsApp to hand over code for GASS and other spyware. The court asked the NSO Group, the maker of the world’s most sophisticated cyber weapons, including Pegasus. The order of the court is part of the case filed by WhatsApp in the case of secretly monitoring 1400 WhatsApp users for two weeks using NSO Group’s spy software.
The NSO Group is an entity operating under the strict control of the Israeli Ministry of Defense. Meanwhile, the sale of NSO’s Pegasus code and other surveillance systems to foreign governments requires the approval of the Israeli government. Judge Phyllis Hamilton ordered WhatsApp to provide all relevant spyware during the period when WhatsApp customers were allegedly attacked from April 29, 2018 to May 10, 2020. The court also ordered the handover of information on how to fully operate these spywares.
Although the order to hand over the software was a setback for the NSO Group, the court did not compel the company to reveal who its customers were. As early as 2020, Facebook submitted evidence against the NSO group in court for hacking WhatsApp using Pegasus. The NSO Group claims that its software is aimed at preventing terrorism, preventing crime and saving lives. The company has repeatedly denied the allegations and counter-alleged that Facebook itself was trying to buy Pegasus in 2017. The NSO Group maintains that Pegasus software is only sold to intelligence agencies and law enforcement agencies.
Facebook itself has revealed that the accounts of around 1,400 WhatsApp users in different parts of the world, including journalists, human rights activists, and lawyers, were monitored using Pegasus software. It was controversial globally. Pegasus spyware allows someone to take complete control of someone’s mobile phone remotely. Any phone can be hacked with it. Phone calls, emails, photographs, location information and even encrypted messages can be intercepted without the customer’s knowledge.
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