LIVE news: US judge finds Israel's NSO Group liable for hacking in WhatsApp lawsuit
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The judge in the case found the company had violated state and federal US hacking laws as well as WhatsApp’s own terms of service. | Representational
WhatsApp claimed legal victory over the maker of Pegasus spyware late on Friday. The Israeli company, NSO Group Technologies, was accused in a lawsuit by Meta’s messaging app of infecting and surveilling the phones of 1,400 people over a two-week period in May 2019 via its notorious Pegasus software. The judge in the case, Phyllis Hamilton, found the company had violated state and federal US hacking laws as well as WhatsApp’s own terms of service. NSO Group will face a separate jury trial in March 2025 to determine the damages it owes WhatsApp, the world’s most popular messaging service. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has increased the compensation to farmers for land acquisition to build the Jewar Airport from Rs 3,100 per square meter to Rs 4,300 per square meter, an official statement from the state government said. In a post on X, CM Yogi said, "Under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Asia's largest airport is being built in Jewar, the credit for this development goes to the farmers. The compensation payable for land acquisition for the third phase for Noida International Airport, Jewar has been increased from Rs 3,100 per square meter to Rs 4,300 per square meter. Hearty congratulations and salutations to all the farmer brothers!"
Louise Wateridge, Emergency Officer for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in Gaza, stated on Friday that more than two million people remain trapped in dire conditions in Gaza, deprived of their basic needs. Wateridge emphasised that residents are unable to flee, describing the situation as one where every possible route leads to death. UNRWA reported that worsening weather conditions in recent days are expected to continue. Despite this, the agency has been forced to prioritise food over shelter assistance.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that a good detention centre would be built in Mumbai to keep illegal Bangladeshi migrants as they could not be held in jails directly. CM Devendra Fadnavis said, "In recent times we have seen that in drug cases, illegal entry cases, illegal Bangladeshis, they are all foreign nationals and they cannot be kept directly in our jails. They have to be kept in detention camps, so BMC has given us land to build detention camps. But that land does not conform to the norms of detention camps. So we have asked BMC for another land. So, a good detention centre will be built in Mumbai"
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Read our full report here
Read our full report here
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8:46 AM
NSO Group found liable for hacking in WhatsApp lawsuit: Check case background
WhatsApp in 2019 sued NSO seeking an injunction and damages, accusing it of accessing WhatsApp servers without permission six months earlier to install the Pegasus software on victims' mobile devices. The lawsuit alleged the intrusion allowed the surveillance of 1,400 people, including journalists, human rights activists and dissidents.NSO had argued that Pegasus helps law enforcement and intelligence agencies fight crime and protect national security and that its technology is intended to help catch terrorists, pedophiles and hardened criminals.
NSO appealed a trial judge's 2020 refusal to award it "conduct-based immunity," a common law doctrine protecting foreign officials acting in their official capacity. Upholding that ruling in 2021, the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals called it an "easy case" because NSO's mere licensing of Pegasus and offering technical support did not shield it from liability under a federal law called the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which took precedence over common law.
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First Published: Dec 21 2024 | 8:23 AM IST
