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WhatsApp said it had disabled a new hacking campaign linked to it NSO Groupa spyware maker who fell into a trap Countless cases of abuse All over the world. The messaging app maker has accused NSO of violating a previous court order prohibiting the company from targeting WhatsApp and its users with its spyware, and is seeking to hold NSO in contempt of court.
On Monday, the chat app owned by Meta Announce It “detected and disrupted NSO-related phishing attempts” after conducting an investigation based on user reports. “They tried to trick people into clicking on malicious links to take them to external sites outside of WhatsApp,” the company wrote. “We also caught them creating test accounts and groups on WhatsApp, which we removed.”
WhatsApp said the attacks were similar to another phishing campaign that relied on users clicking on malicious links, which could then lead to targets being infected with NSO’s Pegasus spyware. Reported in Jordan in 2024.
NSO did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment.
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Last year, as part of a years-long lawsuit filed by WhatsApp against NSO, The court ordered the spyware maker to stop targeting WhatsApp and its users. WhatsApp claimed that the new phishing campaign revealed on Monday violated this permanent injunction, and as such filed a contempt order against NSO.
The injunction stems from a mass hacking campaign by NSO in 2019 that targeted more than 1,400 WhatsApp users. After the discovery, WhatsApp informed the victims and File a lawsuit against the spyware maker. Jury NSO was ordered to pay $167 million in compensationwhich was later reduced to $4 million.
Over the past decade, security researchers, journalists, and technology companies like WhatsApp have documented dozens of cases in which government hackers have used NSO’s spyware to target and hack the phones of journalists, dissidents, human rights workers, and political opponents. Technology companies have responded in several ways: Expose these hacking campaigns publicly, Victim notificationfile lawsuits against spyware makers, and launch New special security features It is designed to make devices and applications more difficult to hack, especially by government agents armed with powerful spyware, such as NSO’s Pegasus.
At the same time, the US government also put pressure on NSO through… Put him on the ban listand Penalties imposed on Other spyware makers He loves Intellexa And its founder.
last year, A group of American investors bought NSO Hoping to clean up the company’s reputation as well the pressure The US government has filed measures against the company.
While NSO continues its plan to enter the US market, the US government has not yet removed NSO from the US Department of Commerce’s ban list.
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