Meta has secured a significant legal victory against Israel-based NSO Group, the developer of the infamous Pegasus spyware, with a U.S. federal jury awarding the tech giant Rs 1,400 crore (approx. $167.25 million) in damages. The lawsuit, originally filed in 2019 by Meta (then Facebook), accused NSO Group of illegally targeting 1,400 WhatsApp users, including journalists, diplomats, and human rights defenders, through highly invasive surveillance methods.
The ruling also includes Rs 3.7 crore (approx. $444,719) in compensatory damages. This landmark decision, delivered by a jury in California, marks one of the first major legal setbacks for spyware makers and reinforces growing global scrutiny over surveillance technologies.
Meta: A Win for Privacy and a Warning to Spyware Industry
Meta welcomed the verdict in a blog post, calling it a crucial step forward in safeguarding digital privacy. “Today’s verdict in WhatsApp’s case is an important step forward for privacy and security... a critical deterrent to this malicious industry,” the company stated.
The spyware, Pegasus, was known to infect smartphones through missed calls, often leaving no trace. Once installed, it granted NSO clients access to a victim's messages, emails, photos, location, call records, and could even remotely activate the phone’s microphone and camera, turning devices into 24/7 surveillance tools. The attack did not require the victim to answer the call, making it highly stealthy and dangerous.
The exploit targeted over 1,400 WhatsApp users across more than 50 countries, including at least 100 users in India, as revealed in court filings. These surveillance attacks reportedly occurred over a two-month period between April and May 2019. The findings were first reported by Citizen Lab, a Canadian cybersecurity watchdog.
NSO Group Faces Global Legal Heat
In its defense, NSO Group has maintained that it only provides tools to vetted government agencies to combat crime and terrorism. However, the spyware has repeatedly been found to target civil society actors, leading to growing global condemnation. In response to the court ruling, NSO’s Vice President of Global Communications, Gil Lainer, stated the company would review the verdict and explore all legal options, including an appeal.
Meta claims that even after the attack vector through WhatsApp was blocked in 2019, NSO continued to explore alternative ways to deploy spyware through browsers, operating systems, and other messaging platforms. The court revealed that NSO Group spends tens of millions of dollars annually developing such exploits.
Apple, too, filed a lawsuit against the NSO Group in 2021 for using Pegasus to target iPhone users. The company sought a permanent injunction preventing NSO from accessing any Apple hardware, software, or services.
The Pegasus spyware controversy has been a subject of heated political and social debate in India. Though Meta’s lawsuit was filed in the U.S., its implications extend globally. The fact that at least 100 Indian WhatsApp users were affected by the spyware raises concerns about the potential targeting of journalists, activists, and political figures within the country.
Meta emphasized in its blog that Pegasus is a threat to every individual’s privacy and digital safety, stating: “NSO’s Pegasus works to covertly compromise people’s phones with spyware capable of hoovering up information from any app installed on the device... every kind of user data.” The victory in this case sets a precedent, signaling to surveillance software developers that illegal deployment of spyware will not go unpunished, especially when it infringes upon the fundamental right to privacy. As legal pressure builds and more tech companies pursue accountability, the fight against commercial spyware is expected to intensify in courts and parliaments around the world.
