Israeli company NSO Group has appealed a California federal court ruling that bars it from using WhatsApp’s infrastructure to distribute its Pegasus surveillance software.
The case, which has been ongoing for several years, stems from a complaint filed by WhatsApp after the discovery of a large-scale attack on its users. The operation exploited zero-day vulnerabilities and zero-click techniques, allowing the spyware to be installed without any action on the part of the victims.
Last October, Judge Phyllis Hamilton ruled that WhatsApp servers had been misused, allowing the infection of approximately 1,500 devices. According to the ruling, NSO had circumvented the platform’s security systems and routed malicious traffic through its network. The ruling therefore prevented the company from continuing to exploit the messaging service’s infrastructure to distribute malware.
NSO Group, seeking to overturn the decision, argues that the ban threatens the company’s very survival and undermines the activities of governments and security agencies that use Pegasus for investigations and counterterrorism operations.
The company also accuses the court of misunderstanding how the software works and misinterpreting the U.S. Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, thus influencing the outcome of the proceedings.
For its part, WhatsApp rejects NSO’s arguments and considers the appeal a further attempt to evade responsibility.
A spokesperson for the platform reiterated that manipulating user communications and overriding security mechanisms violates US law, and announced its intention to seek final confirmation of the ban on appeal.
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