Facebook can pursue malware lawsuit against Israel's NSO
(Reuters) — A U.S. appeals court said Facebook can pursue a lawsuit accusing Israel's NSO Group of exploiting a bug in its WhatsApp messaging app to install malware allowing the surveillance of 1,400 people, including journalists, human rights activists and dissidents.
In a 3-0 decision on Monday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco rejected privately owned NSO's claim it was immune from being sued because it had acted as a foreign government agent.
Facebook, now known as Meta Platforms Inc., sued NSO for an injunction and damages in October 2019, accusing it of accessing WhatsApp servers without permission six months earlier to install its Pegasus malware on victims' mobile devices.
NSO has argued that Pegasus helps law enforcement and intelligence agencies fight crime and protect national security.
It was appealing a trial judge's July 2020 refusal to award it “conduct-based immunity,” a common law doctrine protecting foreign officials acting in their official capacity.
