Latest news with #Gazneli
India Today
14-05-2025
- India Today
WhatsApp sued but NSO Group kept unleashing Pegasus spyware on users
Last week, Meta won the Rs 1,400 crore lawsuit against Israeli firm NSO Group in the Pegasus spyware case. The lawsuit was filed by Meta's WhatsApp in 2019 after a research found that the NSO Group hacked into the WhatsApp account of 1,400 users by injecting the Pegasus spyware, which was done by taking advantage of a vulnerability in its audio call feature. On May 6, 2025, the 5-year-long legal battle between Meta and NSO Group concluded, and the jury trial ruled that the Israeli company was guilty of hacking into the accounts of thousands of WhatsApp users. advertisementHowever, the transcripts of the trial's proceedings were accessed by TechCrunch, which revealed an interesting – if we can call it that – thing about the Pegasus attacks. Reportedly, the NSO Group admitted during the trial that even after Meta had sued the company for the WhatsApp hacks, it continued to target WhatsApp users. Apparently, NSO Group's research and development vice president, Tamir Gazneli, acknowledges that the Pegasus-maker was rolling out targeted attacks between late 2019 to May 2020. Gazneli revealed that the spyware codenamed 'Erised', which was one of the WhatsApp zero-click vectors, was pushed during that period of time. Reminder: Meta sued the NSO Group in October 2019. As per the NSO Group's executive, the company was using other versions of the spyware as well, which were codenamed 'Eden' and 'Heaven', and collectively the three versions were called 'Hummingbird'. advertisement The Pegasus attacks were first spotted and highlighted by Citizen Lab, which had revealed that the company was infecting smartphones with spyware via phone calls. This was regardless of the user answering the call. If the spyware call went on their device, their phone would be infected. This led to the spyware taking control over the infected device's camera and microphone, which allowed it to access call records, messages, emails, locations and even passwords in some scenarios. The cyberattack primarily focused on journalists, human rights defenders, and diplomats, impacting users across more than 50 countries. Court documents filed last month revealed that India accounted for at least 100 of the 1,400 identified targets. These attacks are believed to have occurred within just two months, between April and May 2021, Apple took legal action against the NSO Group, accusing it of deploying Pegasus spyware to infiltrate iPhones. At the time, Apple stated that it was pursuing a permanent court order to block the company from accessing any of its software, services, or year, in December 2024, a US court found the NSO Group responsible for the hacking incidents involving WhatsApp. Earlier this month, Meta won the case against NSO Group.
USA Today
07-05-2025
- Business
- USA Today
WhatsApp hack: Israel's NSO Group fined $168M for spyware breach
WhatsApp hack: Israel's NSO Group fined $168M for spyware breach Show Caption Hide Caption Mark Zuckerberg's Meta to launch rival ChatGPT app Mark Zuckerberg's technology conglomerate Meta is set to launch a standalone artificial intelligence app that will rival OpenAI's ChatGPT. The Meta AI App is set to be released in the latter quarter of 2025, with the company hoping it will become a leader in the field by the end of the year. unbranded - Newsworthy Israel's NSO Group was handed a $168 million penalty by a federal jury in California on Tuesday for hijacking the servers of WhatsApp in order to hack users of the Meta-owned chat platform on behalf of foreign spy agencies. The case caps a six-year battle between the American social media giant and the surveillance firm. It has also cast an unusual amount of light on the inner workings of the spyware industry. Here is what we have learned: Top-shelf spyware is not cheap Between 2018 and 2020 NSO charged its European government customers a "standard price" of $7 million for use of its platform to hack 15 different devices at a time, according to Sarit Bizinsky Gil, NSO's vice president of global business operations. The executive said the ability to hack a phone outside the customer's country was a separate add-on worth approximately $1 million or $2 million. "It is a highly sophisticated product," Meta lawyer Antonio Perez told the court in his opening statement, "And it carries a hefty price tag." NSO hacked thousands of devices Between 2018 and 2020 the Israeli spyware firm was responsible for breaking into thousands of devices, according to Tamir Gazneli, NSO's vice president of research and development. During the trial, Gazneli said he disagreed with the idea that his company sold "spyware," leading to an exchange with Perez in which Gazneli insisted his firm's tools were used to gather intelligence on targets but "not people." In case you missed it: Musk, Zuckerberg top Forbes' richest people in world. Who else made the list? "You don't consider the targets people, Mr. Gazneli?" Perez asked him. "That's not what I said," he responded. "What I said is that the targets are intelligence targets of intelligence agencies." American taxpayers sent millions to NSO's coffers The Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation collectively paid NSO $7.6 million, according to court records. The agencies' past dealings with the Israeli spyware company had previously been disclosed by The New York Times, which said the CIA bankrolled Djibouti's purchase of NSO spyware and the bureau bought it for testing, but the trial put a price tag on the relationship. NSO targeted WhatsApp's infrastructure during the lawsuit The lawsuit against NSO did not deter the spyware firm from continuing to abuse WhatsApp's infrastructure, Meta's lawyers said in a court document filed late last month. "NSO repeatedly targeted Plaintiffs, Plaintiffs' servers, and Plaintiffs' mobile client even after this litigation was filed," the filing said. The filing seeks a permanent injunction against NSO, which it said "poses a significant threat of ongoing and prospective harm" to Meta, its platform, and its users. Reporting by Raphael Satter; Editing by David Gregorio
USA Today
06-05-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Meta suit against Israel's NSO offered rare insight into world of cyberespionage
Meta suit against Israel's NSO offered rare insight into world of cyberespionage Show Caption Hide Caption Microsoft's AI language interpreter could be boon for cybercriminals A new AI language interpreter unveiled by Microsoft is sparking concern among cybersecurity experts. Straight Arrow News NSO Group was fined $168 million for hacking WhatsApp users. NSO charged European governments millions of dollars for their spyware platform. The CIA and FBI paid NSO $7.6 million. NSO continued targeting WhatsApp even during the lawsuit. WASHINGTON — Israel's NSO Group was handed a $168 million penalty by a federal jury in California on Tuesday for hijacking the servers of WhatsApp in order to hack users of the Meta-owned chat platform on behalf of foreign spy agencies. The case caps a six-year battle between the American social media giant and the surveillance firm. It has also cast a unusual amount of light on the inner workings of the spyware industry. Here is what we have learned: Top-shelf spyware is not cheap Between 2018 and 2020 NSO charged its European government customers a "standard price" of $7 million for use of its platform to hack 15 different devices at a time, according to Sarit Bizinsky Gil, NSO's vice president of global business operations. The executive said the ability to hack a phone outside the customer's country was a separate add-on worth approximately $1 million or $2 million. "It is a highly sophisticated product," Meta lawyer Antonio Perez told the court in his opening statement, "And it carries a hefty price tag." NSO hacked thousands of devices Between 2018 and 2020 the Israeli spyware firm was responsible for breaking into thousands of devices, according to Tamir Gazneli, NSO's vice president of research and development. During the trial, Gazneli said he disagreed with the idea that his company sold "spyware," leading to an exchange with Perez in which Gazneli insisted his firm's tools were used to gather intelligence on targets but "not people." "You don't consider the targets people, Mr. Gazneli?" Perez asked him. "That's not what I said," he responded. "What I said is that the targets are intelligence targets of intelligence agencies." American taxpayers sent millions to NSO's coffers The Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation collectively paid NSO $7.6 million, according to court records. The agencies' past dealings with the Israeli spyware company had previously been disclosed by The New York Times, which said the CIA bankrolled Djibouti's purchase of NSO spyware and the bureau bought it for testing, but the trial put a price tag on the relationship. NSO targeted WhatsApp's infrastructure during the lawsuit The lawsuit against NSO did not deter the spyware firm from continuing to abuse WhatsApp's infrastructure, Meta's lawyers said in a court document filed late last month. "NSO repeatedly targeted Plaintiffs, Plaintiffs' servers, and Plaintiffs' mobile client even after this litigation was filed," the filing said. The filing seeks a permanent injunction against NSO, which it said "poses a significant threat of ongoing and prospective harm" to Meta, its platform, and its users. Reporting by Raphael Satter; Editing by David Gregorio
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Meta suit against Israel's NSO offered rare insight into world of cyberespionage
By Raphael Satter WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Israel's NSO Group was handed a $168 million penalty by a federal jury in California on Tuesday for hijacking the servers of WhatsApp in order to hack users of the Meta-owned chat platform on behalf of foreign spy agencies. The case caps a six-year battle between the American social media giant and the surveillance firm. It has also cast a unusual amount of light on the inner workings of the spyware industry. Here is what we have learned: TOP-SHELF SPYWARE IS NOT CHEAP Between 2018 and 2020 NSO charged its European government customers a "standard price" of $7 million for use of its platform to hack 15 different devices at a time, according to Sarit Bizinsky Gil, NSO's vice president of global business operations. The executive said the ability to hack a phone outside the customer's country was a separate add-on worth approximately $1 million or $2 million. "It is a highly sophisticated product," Meta lawyer Antonio Perez told the court in his opening statement, "And it carries a hefty price tag." NSO HACKED THOUSANDS OF DEVICES Between 2018 and 2020 the Israeli spyware firm was responsible for breaking into thousands of devices, according to Tamir Gazneli, NSO's vice president of research and development. During the trial, Gazneli said he disagreed with the idea that his company sold "spyware," leading to an exchange with Perez in which Gazneli insisted his firm's tools were used to gather intelligence on targets but "not people." "You don't consider the targets people, Mr. Gazneli?" Perez asked him. "That's not what I said," he responded. "What I said is that the targets are intelligence targets of intelligence agencies." AMERICAN TAXPAYERS SENT MILLIONS TO NSO'S COFFERS The Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation collectively paid NSO $7.6 million, according to court records. The agencies' past dealings with the Israeli spyware company had previously been disclosed by The New York Times, which said the CIA bankrolled Djibouti's purchase of NSO spyware and the bureau bought it for testing, but the trial put a price tag on the relationship. NSO TARGETED WHATSAPP'S INFRASTRUCTURE DURING THE LAWSUIT The lawsuit against NSO did not deter the spyware firm from continuing to abuse WhatsApp's infrastructure, Meta's lawyers said in a court document filed late last month. "NSO repeatedly targeted Plaintiffs, Plaintiffs' servers, and Plaintiffs' mobile client even after this litigation was filed," the filing said.
