Security News > 2020 > November > Israeli spyware maker NSO channels Hollywood spy thrillers in appeal for legal immunity in WhatsApp battle

Israeli spyware maker NSO Group has taken a leaf out of Hollywood in an attempt to avoid any legal repercussions from making and selling tools that hack WhatsApp users' phones.

When NSO failed to turn up in court in the US state, Facebook claimed victory; and NSO accused it of lying and having failed to serve the legal documents.

The bulk of the legal arguments has been around NSO claiming that Facebook simply can't sue it: first, because it doesn't use the software, its clients do; second that it has legal immunity because it sells to governments; and third, because it doesn't have an office in California anyway.

The bulk of those claims were thrown out in July when District Judge Phyllis Hamilton decided NSO is not entitled to immunity as a foreign official, and can't claim immunity derived from its government customers, either.

In a sign that NSO is going to use its resources to fight every step of the way this week's appeal [PDF] to the Ninth Circuit revisits the legal immunity question.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2020/11/17/israeli_hacking_group_goes_hollywood/