WhatsApp hack: Meta wins payout over NSO Group spyware

Meta won a legal judgment against Israel-based NSO Group after alleging the company used its Pegasus spyware to infect around 1,400 WhatsApp users via zero-click payloads; a jury awarded Meta $444,719 in compensatory and $167,254,000 in punitive damages. The report highlights the high sophistication of commercial spyware, its targeting of journalists, activists, diplomats and other sensitive roles, and the limits of end-to-end encryption when endpoint devices are compromised, while recommending high-risk protections and security hygiene.