The companies have warned that granting immunity to NSO would increase the chance of surveillance tools falling into the wrong hands.
Google, Microsoft, Cisco, GitHub, LinkedIn, VMWare, Dell, and the Internet Association have filed an supporting Facebook's legal action against Israeli spyware maker NSO Group. Facebook had filed a lawsuit against the company in October last year, after it found that NSO Group had an undisclosed vulnerability in WhatsApp to surveil over 1,400 individuals – including journalists and human rights activists.
As reported by , NSO Group has argued that it should benefit from "sovereign immunity," as it sells its digital tools to foreign governments. However, it lost that argument in the Northern District of California July and has appealed to the Ninth circuit to overturn the ruling.
Microsoft has argued in a blog post titled "" that granting immunity to NSO would encourage the surveillance industry to grow and the tools could be incredibly dangerous if they fall into the wrong hands.
A report published by last week alleged that NSO's hacking tools had been used to hack nearly three dozen devices belonging to employees of Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera. NSO, however, continues to insist that its tools are only used by law enforcement agencies to combat crime.
What you need to know
- Google and Microsoft have joined Facebook's legal battle against Israeli hacking company NSO.
- Facebook had filed a lawsuit against NSO Group last year after it exploited a bug in WhatsApp to surveil over 1,400 people around the world.
- An amicus brief filed by the companies in support of Facebook warns that NSO's tools are both powerful and dangerous.
Google, Microsoft, Cisco, GitHub, LinkedIn, VMWare, Dell, and the Internet Association have filed an supporting Facebook's legal action against Israeli spyware maker NSO Group. Facebook had filed a lawsuit against the company in October last year, after it found that NSO Group had an undisclosed vulnerability in WhatsApp to surveil over 1,400 individuals – including journalists and human rights activists.
As reported by , NSO Group has argued that it should benefit from "sovereign immunity," as it sells its digital tools to foreign governments. However, it lost that argument in the Northern District of California July and has appealed to the Ninth circuit to overturn the ruling.
Microsoft has argued in a blog post titled "" that granting immunity to NSO would encourage the surveillance industry to grow and the tools could be incredibly dangerous if they fall into the wrong hands.
A report published by last week alleged that NSO's hacking tools had been used to hack nearly three dozen devices belonging to employees of Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera. NSO, however, continues to insist that its tools are only used by law enforcement agencies to combat crime.