NSO Group—NSO Group found liable for hacking 1,400+ WhatsApp users with Pegasus; court revealed Saudi Arabia as customer
In the Meta/WhatsApp lawsuit against NSO Group, a U.S. federal court found NSO liable for violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act by accessing WhatsApp servers to install Pegasus spyware on over 1,400 devices in 2019. In May 2025, the court ordered NSO to pay $167 million in damages. During the lawsuit proceedings, court documents revealed Saudi Arabia as one of NSO's Pegasus customers. Evidence showed the spyware was used against Princess Haya of Dubai and associates of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi. NSO admitted it had cut off 10 government customers for abusing Pegasus.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Authoritarian Compliance | +toward | primary | -1.00 |
| Digital Safety for Vulnerable Users | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Press Freedom | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| User Privacy | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.298 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (critical ×2) × confidence (0.68)× agency (compelled ×0.25)
Evidence (2 signals)
Found liable for hacking 1,400+ WhatsApp users with Pegasus spyware, ordered to pay $167M
In December 2024, a U.S. federal court found NSO Group liable for violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act by accessing WhatsApp servers to install Pegasus spyware on 1,400+ devices in 2019. In May 2025, Meta was awarded $167.3 million in punitive damages. Victims included journalists, human rights activists, and political dissidents. NSO admitted cutting off 10 government customers for abuse.
Court documents revealed Saudi Arabia as Pegasus customer, used against dissidents including Khashoggi associates
During the WhatsApp lawsuit, NSO Group court documents revealed Saudi Arabia as one of its customers. Evidence showed Pegasus was used against Princess Haya of Dubai and associates of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi. NSO charged up to $6.8 million for one-year licenses, generating at least $31 million in revenue in 2019 alone.