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Software The Courts

Court Orders Maker of Pegasus Spyware To Hand Over Code To WhatsApp (theguardian.com) 53

Posted by BeauHD from the cough-it-up dept.
Stephanie Kirchgaessner reports via The Guardian: NSO Group, the maker of one the world's most sophisticated cyber weapons, has been ordered by a US court to hand its code for Pegasus and other spyware products to WhatsApp as part of the company's ongoing litigation. The decision by Judge Phyllis Hamilton is a major legal victory for WhatsApp, the Meta-owned communication app which has been embroiled in a lawsuit against NSO since 2019, when it alleged that the Israeli company's spyware had been used against 1,400 WhatsApp users over a two-week period.

NSO's Pegasus code, and code for other surveillance products it sells, is seen as a closely and highly sought state secret. NSO is closely regulated by the Israeli ministry of defense, which must review and approve the sale of all licences to foreign governments. In reaching her decision, Hamilton considered a plea by NSO to excuse it of all its discovery obligations in the case due to "various US and Israeli restrictions."

Ultimately, however, she sided with WhatsApp in ordering the company to produce"all relevant spyware" for a period of one year before and after the two weeks in which WhatsApp users were allegedly attacked: from 29 April 2018 to 10 May 2020. NSO must also give WhatsApp information "concerning the full functionality of the relevant spyware." Hamilton did, however, decide in NSO's favor on a different matter: the company will not be forced at this time to divulge the names of its clients or information regarding its server architecture.
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Court Orders Maker of Pegasus Spyware To Hand Over Code To WhatsApp More

Court Orders Maker of Pegasus Spyware To Hand Over Code To WhatsApp

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  • Likely to still refuse. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Local ID10T ( 790134 ) <ID10T.L.USER@gmail.com> on Thursday February 29, 2024 @08:42PM (#64280638) Homepage

    They will likely still refuse to comply.

    First they will file an appeal. If the ruling is not overturned on appeal, they will go the diplomatic route: The NSO Group are not US citizens but Israeli citizens and their government will intercede on their behalf (likely claiming National Security reasons). i.e. "My clients cannot turn over that information, your honor. They are under instructions from the government not to do so as it would constitute a violation of National Security."

    This may result in the court finding against them (costing them $$), but they still will not turn over their code.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward

      They will likely still refuse to comply.

      First they will file an appeal. If the ruling is not overturned on appeal, they will go the diplomatic route: The NSO Group are not US citizens but Israeli citizens and their government will intercede on their behalf (likely claiming National Security reasons). i.e. "My clients cannot turn over that information, your honor. They are under instructions from the government not to do so as it would constitute a violation of National Security."

      IANAL, but this ruling may in fact be legally in privacy’s favor. If a foreign entity can claim “privacy” as their defense, then I don’t see any reason why US citizens cannot claim “terrorism” when it comes to identifying a foreign entity that is blatantly violating the privacy of an American citizen, AND an entity that refuses to cooperate with a legal court order.

      Quite frankly, when it comes to the privacy of American citizens, the Constitution basically states that th

    • Re:Likely to still refuse. (Score:5, Interesting)

      by NoWayNoShapeNoForm ( 7060585 ) on Thursday February 29, 2024 @10:07PM (#64280808)

      An old saying applies here: "You cannot get blood from a rock."

      In other words, to US Court good luck enforcing your ruling.

      And Israeli government behind closed door tell US government "Good luck asking for our help in future."

      Honestly, I think Israel is getting to the point with it's defense production that it needs precious little help from the USA, but big USA defense contractors need the money that US support to Israel brings in.

      The politics behind this will get very interesting and we won't see most of that.

      • In other words, to US Court good luck enforcing your ruling.

        But at least we know all who is an enemy, and it is not the court. In case we didn't know already.

        • We do. It's the people filming and publishing their mass rape, murder, and kidnapping of a bunch of young people at a music concert for peace.

          • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

            by Kernel Kurtz ( 182424 )
            We have one side that targets innocent people, and another side that simply does not care about them. There is not as much moral high ground there as you think.

      • Re: (Score:1, Interesting)

        by Uberbah ( 647458 )

        Honestly, I think Israel is getting to the point with it's defense production that it needs precious little help from the USA

        Durwut. Without the veto pen of Israel's sugar daddies, UN resolution 181 would have been repealed a long time ago. That grotesque Apartheid state only exists due to the largess of the US and UK. Which is kinda bizzare, as Zionist terrorists had plans to assassinate Truman & Churchill, plus spent hours bombing the USS Liberty and its survivors.

        But that's Zionists for you. Bombed K

        • Your dates and other claims are wrong.

          Britain's involvement was by right of conquest; the Ottoman Empire surrendered the Middle East to the UK and France. If that is not an acceptable source of authority, all rulers in the Middle East since forever have been illegitimate. And a five minute investigation in the burdens imposed on non-Muslims under dhimmitude will reveal a form of apartheid rule that makes Israel a paragon of virtue by contrast.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by jd ( 1658 )

            Right of conquest was abolished by the UN, but I believe that post-dates Britain's control of Palestine. I also believe pre-existing arrangements were grandfathered in.

            The failings and abuses of one nation do not justify of excuse the failings and abuses of another nation. That applies in all cases, it is not limited to any one situation or any one context.

            And, no, I don't excuse any nation or supernation in this. Each nation is 100% responsible for its own corruption and degeneracy, no matter how much wors

            • Are you ready to surrender the land you're living on back to whatever people were there before your people conquered them?

              I suspect "but that's different and happened a long time ago (and I'm not a dirty Jew! - said silently)" is your reply.

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by jd ( 1658 )

                I've actually suggested that for the land I'm on.

                No, I've no opposition to England being returned to the Welsh/Cornish and parts of Cumbria/Northumbria being returned to the Scots. The Norman French who control British politics have largely run it into the ground, so the sooner they're kicked out of the country, the better.

                • Great, so put your money where your mouth is. Find a native family and abandon your place to them. Then you can go home with the clothes on your back to wherever your ancestral home is. But I hope that your people are the original natives there, too. Oh wait, in UK? Odds are about zero.

                  • Re: (Score:2)

                    by jd ( 1658 )

                    My ancestors are the Welsh and Scots, so I've already done the first and second bit. Oh dear, hatred really isn't working for you, is it?

                    • I'm not hating at all. I'm questioning your knowledge of history and your political philosophy.

                      Are you sure no one was in that area before those people?

                      Have you found a native family to take over your current home?

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by UpnAtom ( 551727 )

            Britain and France effectively took the Middle East from the Ottomans, helped by some of the natives. They were the last two old great powers. Britain stiffed the natives though Churchill eventually gave them Jordan. Egypt remained a British colony throughout.

            The British supposedly had good intentions and rather than colonishing Greater Palestine, chose to be a protector. The forerunner to the UN, the League of Nations, forced this plan on France too.

            Britain was subject to an influx of Jews seeking refu

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by piojo ( 995934 )

          That apartheid doesn't exist. Arabs and Muslims can be Israeli citizens. What rights do they lack that White or Jewish citizens have? However I would be very surprised if there is a legal route for a Palestinian to become a citizen.

      • Honestly, I think Israel is getting to the point with it's defense production that it needs precious little help from the USA, but big USA defense contractors need the money that US support to Israel brings in.

        Well, direct US aid (military and otherwise) covers about 3-5% of Israel's total annual revenue - so the country as a whole is still rather dependent on the US.

  • seen as a closely and highly sought state secret—The Guardian clearly fails to see the difference between Israel and a Communist state. The NSO Group is a private enterprise. The source code is a property of the NSO Group as much as the design of the Massada firearm is a property of Israel Weapon Industries. The government of Israel does have the right to veto a deal between the NSO Group and a third party because the deal concerns controlled goods and services, but the government does not own the

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