Musk should focus on business, says U.S. Treasury chief
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has urged Elon Musk to steer clear of politics and prioritise his companies, after the Tesla CEO announced the f...
U.S. judge ruled on Friday in favour of Meta Platforms' WhatsApp in a lawsuit accusing Israel's NSO Group of exploiting a bug in the messaging app to install spy software allowing unauthorized surveillance.
A U.S. judge ruled on Friday in favour of Meta Platforms' WhatsApp in a lawsuit accusing Israel's NSO Group of exploiting a bug in the messaging app to install spy software allowing unauthorized surveillance.
U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton in Oakland, California, granted a motion by WhatsApp and found NSO liable for hacking and breach of contract.
The case will now proceed to a trial only on the issue of damages, Hamilton said. NSO Group did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Will Cathcart, the head of WhatsApp, said the ruling is a win for privacy. "We spent five years presenting our case because we firmly believe that spyware companies could not hide behind immunity or avoid accountability for their unlawful actions," Cathcart said in a social media post.
A WhatsApp spokesperson said they were grateful for the decision. "We’re proud to have stood up against NSO and thankful to the many organizations that were supportive of this case. WhatsApp will never stop working to protect people’s private communication", he said.
John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher with Canadian internet watchdog Citizen Lab — which first brought to light NSO’s Pegasus spyware in 2016 — called the judgment a landmark ruling with “huge implications for the spyware industry.”
“The entire industry has hidden behind the claim that whatever their customers do with their hacking tools, it's not their responsibility,” he said in an instant message. “Today's ruling makes it clear that NSO Group is in fact responsible for breaking numerous laws.”
WhatsApp in 2019 sued NSO seeking an injunction and damages, accusing it of accessing WhatsApp servers without permission six months earlier to install the Pegasus software on victims' mobile devices. The lawsuit alleged the intrusion allowed the surveillance of 1,400 people, including journalists, human rights activists and dissidents.
NSO had argued that Pegasus helps law enforcement and intelligence agencies fight crime and protect national security and that its technology is intended to help catch terrorists, pedophiles and hardened criminals.
NSO appealed a trial judge's 2020 refusal to award it "conduct-based immunity," a common law doctrine protecting foreign officials acting in their official capacity.
Upholding that ruling in 2021, the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals called it an "easy case" because NSO's mere licensing of Pegasus and offering technical support did not shield it from liability under a federal law called the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which took precedence over common law.
The U.S. Supreme Court last year turned away NSO's appeal of the lower court's decision, allowing the lawsuit to proceed.
A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck off Japan’s Tokara Islands on Wednesday, with no tsunami warning issued but residents advised to remain vigilant.
The United States has rescinded licensing restrictions on ethane exports to China, allowing shipments to resume after a temporary halt and signalling progress in efforts to ease recent trade tensions.
Italy plans to grant approximately 500,000 work visas to non-EU nationals between 2026 and 2028, as announced in a cabinet statement. The initiative aims to address labor shortages by expanding legal immigration pathways
Following a deadly glacier collapse in Blatten, near the Swiss Alpine village of Kandersteg, the town is on high alert as melting permafrost and shifting rock threaten another potential disaster after it was buried a month ago.
Australian researchers have pioneered a low-cost and scalable plasma-based method to produce ammonia gas directly from air, offering a green alternative to the traditional fossil fuel-dependent Haber-Bosch process.
China's finance ministry announced on Sunday that it is imposing restrictions on imports of medical devices from the European Union valued over 45 million yuan ($6.3 million).
Investment firm Azoria Partners announced it would delay the launch of its Tesla ETF following Elon Musk's declaration of forming a new U.S. political party.
Ingram Micro INGM.N said on Saturday it recently identified ransomware on certain of its internal systems.
Microsoft is closing its direct operations in Pakistan after 25 years, shifting to a partner-led model to serve the market.
The European Union will drastically reduce imports of Ukrainian wheat and sugar, by up to 80%—to protect its farmers, a move expected to shift Ukraine's exports toward Asia and Africa.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment