Whatsapp alleges NSO Group 'deeply involved' in data hacks on users

Facebook owned messaging app Whatsapp alleged in new court filings that Israeli spyware firm NSO Group used US-based servers and was “deeply involved” in hacking the mobile phones of 1,400 Whatsapp users.

Whatsapp said that the users targeted included government officials, journalists and human rights activists.

According to The Guardian, the claims accuse NSO Group of serious human rights violations, including the hacking of more than a dozen Indian journalists and Rwandan dissidents.

NSO Group alleges that the spyware was purchased by government clients to attempt to track down terrorists and other criminals and is unaware of how the software could be used for hacking purposes.

In the lawsuit filed by Whatsapp in 2019, the company says that the software, called Pegasus by NSO Group, was used by NSO - not its government clients - to hack the data of those 1,400 users.

WhatsApp has said victims of the hack received phone calls using its messaging app and were infected with Pegasus.

“NSO used a network of computers to monitor and update Pegasus after it was implanted on users’ devices. These NSO-controlled computers served as the nerve centre through which NSO controlled its customers’ operation and use of Pegasus.”

According to WhatsApp’s filing, NSO gained “unauthorised access” to its servers by reverse-engineering the messaging app and then evading the company’s security features that prevent manipulation of the company’s call features.

The company said it would file its response to the court in coming days.