Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
WhatsApp is suing notorious spyware vendor NSO Group, saying the company was actively involved in hacking users of the encrypted chat service.
In May, a major software vulnerability in WhatsApp was revealed. Using the flaw, hackers could load spyware onto a phone through a video call, even if the person never answered the call. Citizen Lab, the organization that discovered the vulnerability, said at the time that the attack was being used to target journalists and human rights advocates. The spyware used in the attacks, called Pegasus, was developed by the Israel-based NSO Group, whose software has been employed by repressive governments around the world.
When the WhatsApp flaw was…