Facebook Beats NSO’s Attempt to Crush WhatsApp Malware Suit
Facebook Beats NSO’s Attempt to Crush WhatsApp Malware Hack Suit
(Bloomberg) -- WhatsApp and its parent Facebook Inc. can press ahead with a lawsuit accusing Israeli spyware maker NSO Group of creating accounts to send malware to mobile phones of 1,400 people to snoop on them.
U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton on Thursday denied NSO’s request to dismiss the lawsuit. NSO unsuccessfully argued the court lacked jurisdiction because the company was immune to legal action as a contractor of foreign governments. NSO is an agent of the Kingdom of Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Mexico, according to Facebook’s complaint.
Hamilton did, however, grant NSO’s request to dismiss a claim that NSO wrongfully interfered with WhatsApp servers.
“The complaint does not detail any actual harm caused by defendants’ program or access to WhatsApp’s computers or servers,” she said. But she gave Facebook 21 days to revise and refile that allegation in Oakland federal court.
Hamilton also disagreed with NSO’s argument that Facebook didn’t include its foreign customers as parties to the suit.
WhatsApp welcomed the ruling. “The decision also confirms that WhatsApp will be able to obtain relevant documents and other information about NSO’s practices,” a spokesperson for the company said.
The case is WhatsApp Inc. v. NSO Group Technologies Limited, 19-cv-07123, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (Oakland).
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