NSO Group Shrinks $167 Million Punitive Award in WhatsApp Case

NSO Group will pay about $4 million in punitive damages, rather than the roughly $167 million a jury said it should’ve paid, after a federal court reduced the Israeli spying software company’s liability for hacking WhatsApp’s messaging platform.

NSO violated state and federal anti-hacking laws when it attacked 1,400 mobile phones with its Pegagus software, the US District Court for the Northern District of California ruled. The original punitive damages award—of $167,254,000—was more than 376 times the $444,719 in compensatory damages awarded to Meta Platforms Inc., exceeding the constitutional limit for such an award, Judge Phyllis J. ...