Spyware firm targeted WhatsApp users in defiance of US court order, Meta says
Meta says NSO Group kept trying to phish WhatsApp users in Jordan and Lebanon despite a US injunction, and Meta wants the court to hold it in contempt.
Intelligence analysis by GPT-5.4 Mini
Meta says it caught and disrupted new NSO Group attempts to reach WhatsApp accounts through spear-phishing and test groups, which it says violated a permanent US court order. The dispute adds fresh pressure on NSO as it tries to rebuild its standing in the US market.
Meta says a spyware company kept trying to sneak through WhatsApp’s door even after a judge said not to. It is like being told to stop taking cookies from a jar and then getting caught trying new tricks to reach the jar anyway.
Analysis
What Meta says
Meta says WhatsApp caught and disrupted spear-phishing attempts tied to NSO Group. According to Meta, the activity targeted a small number of users in Jordan and Lebanon, and the company says NSO also created test accounts and groups on WhatsApp. Meta argues that this conduct violates a permanent injunction that bars NSO from targeting WhatsApp and its users, and it has asked the court to hold NSO in contempt.
Why this is significant
NSO is the maker of Pegasus, a spyware tool that previously used a WhatsApp vulnerability to infiltrate phones and collect messages, photos, calls, and other data. The article says NSO lost a case against Meta last year, with damages initially set at $167 million and later reduced to $4 million, but the injunction remained in place.
The story also places the dispute inside a larger legal and business fight. The article says NSO is trying to improve its access to the US market and get off the commerce department blacklist after US officials determined the company had acted contrary to American foreign policy and national security interests. Meta, meanwhile, says WhatsApp cannot read encrypted communications and rejects claims that it can access users’ messages.
Taken together, the case is about more than one company. It is a test of whether a spyware vendor can be blocked in practice after a court order, or whether it can keep probing for ways around it.
Key points
- Meta says it caught and disrupted NSO-linked spear-phishing attempts on WhatsApp.
- The alleged targets were a small number of users in Jordan and Lebanon.
- Meta says NSO also created test accounts and groups, violating a permanent injunction.
- NSO previously lost a lawsuit over WhatsApp-targeting spyware, and damages were later reduced from $167 million to $4 million.
- The case sits inside a wider battle over spyware regulation, encrypted messaging, and US market access.
If Meta’s complaint is upheld, the court could enforce the injunction more strongly and make it harder for NSO to use WhatsApp as an attack path. That would send a warning to other spyware vendors that court orders are not just symbolic.
If NSO really did keep trying after the injunction, the order may not be enough to stop future attempts. Users in places like Jordan and Lebanon could remain exposed to spear-phishing and other spyware tactics despite the legal ruling.
