WhatsApp files complaint against Israeli company NSO Group over espionage allegations
Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2024 7:12 am
WhatsApp, one of the world's most popular messaging apps, owned by Facebook since 2014, announced on Tuesday, October 29, that it had filed a complaint against NSO Group, an Israeli company specializing in spyware. WhatsApp accuses it of having contributed to the hacking, for spying purposes, of around a hundred WhatsApp users, including journalists and human rights activists.
Last May, WhatsApp announced that a critical security flaw had been exploited by spyware. The latter could be installed without the user's knowledge through a voice call infected by a hacker: the spyware was installed even if the user did not pick up. Once installed, this software could collect the geolocation of its target, read their messages and emails, and trigger the microphone and camera of their phone without their knowledge.
WhatsApp announced it had fixed the flaw on May 13. The Financial overseas chinese in canada data Times and the New York Times reported at the time that it had been exploited to install Pegasus spyware , provided by NSO Group, on the smartphone of a human rights lawyer.
Read also WhatsApp security flaw used to install Israeli spyware
100 people targeted, 1,400 devices infected
"After months of investigation, we can say who carried out this attack ," WhatsApp CEO Will Cathcart announced in an op-ed published Tuesday in the Washington Post . He directly accused the company NSO of being linked to the hackers who made infected calls on WhatsApp, with the aim of spying on people receiving these fake calls.
They targeted, before May 2019, "100 human rights defenders, journalists and other members of civil society around the world ," says Will Cathcart. In all, 1,400 devices were infected between April 29 and May 10 in various countries, including the Kingdom of Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Mexico, according to the complaint filed by WhatsApp in federal court, which can be read in full on the Washington Post .
These targets are, according to Will Catchcart, an indicator of the involvement of the Israeli company NSO Group, known for having supplied its spyware to many countries around the world, including to regimes that are not democratic. Last May, in a statement to the BBC , NSO Group denied being directly involved in "operations, or targeting of targets" made possible by its "technologies" . According to the company, based in Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv, its spyware is "commercialized through licenses to governments for the sole purpose of combating crime and terrorism" .
Last May, WhatsApp announced that a critical security flaw had been exploited by spyware. The latter could be installed without the user's knowledge through a voice call infected by a hacker: the spyware was installed even if the user did not pick up. Once installed, this software could collect the geolocation of its target, read their messages and emails, and trigger the microphone and camera of their phone without their knowledge.
WhatsApp announced it had fixed the flaw on May 13. The Financial overseas chinese in canada data Times and the New York Times reported at the time that it had been exploited to install Pegasus spyware , provided by NSO Group, on the smartphone of a human rights lawyer.
Read also WhatsApp security flaw used to install Israeli spyware
100 people targeted, 1,400 devices infected
"After months of investigation, we can say who carried out this attack ," WhatsApp CEO Will Cathcart announced in an op-ed published Tuesday in the Washington Post . He directly accused the company NSO of being linked to the hackers who made infected calls on WhatsApp, with the aim of spying on people receiving these fake calls.
They targeted, before May 2019, "100 human rights defenders, journalists and other members of civil society around the world ," says Will Cathcart. In all, 1,400 devices were infected between April 29 and May 10 in various countries, including the Kingdom of Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Mexico, according to the complaint filed by WhatsApp in federal court, which can be read in full on the Washington Post .
These targets are, according to Will Catchcart, an indicator of the involvement of the Israeli company NSO Group, known for having supplied its spyware to many countries around the world, including to regimes that are not democratic. Last May, in a statement to the BBC , NSO Group denied being directly involved in "operations, or targeting of targets" made possible by its "technologies" . According to the company, based in Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv, its spyware is "commercialized through licenses to governments for the sole purpose of combating crime and terrorism" .