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The government of Mexico , Saudi Arabia , and Uzbekistan were among several area impeach of being behind the 2019 chop campaign that direct more than 1,200 WhatsApp drug user with NSO Group ’s Pegasus spyware , grant to a lawyer working for the Israeli spyware manufacturer .
During a hearing in the case between WhatsApp and NSO Group last Thursday , NSO Group ’s lawyer Joe Akrotirianakis specifically name the three governments as spyware - using customers , according to a copy of the hearingobtained by TechCrunch this week .
This is the first clock time that congresswoman for NSO Group have in public acknowledge who the spyware maker ’s customer are ( or were ) , after years of refusing to discourse its patronage , arguing that the troupe was “ unable ” to do so , an NSO Group spokesperson told TechCrunch in 2023 , for instance .
The revelation number as part of a cause bring by Meta - own WhatsApp in 2019 , whichaccused NSO Group of hacking around 1,400 WhatsApp usersby exploiting a exposure in the messaging app ’s systems between around April and May that same twelvemonth .
The content of last week ’s hearing was first reported byCourthouse News Service .
In the lawsuit ’s ailment , WhatsApp claimed that there were more than 100 place victims who work as human right activists , journalists , and “ other members of civil society . ” Citizen Lab , a digital right grouping that has investigate authorities spyware revilement for more than a X , said in a report at the timethat it assist WhatsApp key out those victims .
Last week , NSO Group ’s lawyer Akrotirianakis told the judge that , “ there ’s at least eight customers whose figure are part of the discovery in this case , ” but only named three during the hearing .
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At the same time , the lawyer also hinted that a list of countries include ina courtroom documentunsealed last calendar week , which show in which countries 1,223 victims of the 2019 spyware campaign were located , is also a list contain NSO Group customers .
“ Pegasus was license for territories and it can only be used in those territory , ” said Akrotirianakis , referring to NSO Group ’s marquee spyware .
Apart from Mexico and Uzbekistan , the list of 51 country includes Bahrain , India , Morocco , Spain , United Kingdom , and the United States . Saudi Arabia , which was mentioned by NSO Group ’s attorney in the hearing , however , does not come out in the inclination .
This could be explained by the fact that some NSO Group ’s customer can target individuals outside of their own territory . For example , in 2017,Citizen Lab reportedthat there was “ circumstantial evidence ” to suggest that one or more of NSO Group ’s government activity customers in Mexico targeted several individuals , including the child of a well - lie with Mexican journalist , who wasin the United Statesat the time he was targeted .
Reached by TechCrunch prior to issue , NSO Group interpreter Gil Lainer declined to remark . When asked , Lainer did not dispute that Mexico , Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan were three party customer at the time of the WhatsApp spyware hunting expedition .
WhatsApp ’s spokesperson Zade Alsawah order TechCrunch that the company is appear forward “ to the approaching trial to determine damage , and insure an injunction against NSO to protect WhatsApp and people ’s private communication . ”
On Tuesday , in a pre - trial rules of order , the jurist presiding over the cause said that while NSO Group read that documents provided as part of the lawsuit ’s discovery time period identify “ at least four land as NSO customers , ” the company has not yet publicly corroborate that those rural area are its customer .
“ The evidentiary disk is opaque as to which of [ NSO ’s ] clients were responsible for the attacks at issue , and thus [ WhatsApp ] were unable to discover evidence about whether screen out procedure were follow with respect to those clients , ” wrote the judge . “ Moreover , to the extent that the parties discuss fact regarding customer who were find to have misuse Pegasus , those facts come along to have come from media report , rather than from defendants . ”
For year , system like Citizen Lab and Amnesty International have document cases where Pegasus was used to target or hack journalists , dissidents , and human rights defenders in some of the countries cite in the victim list , such asMexico , Hungary , Spain , and theUnited Arab Emirates , among several others .
TechCrunch reached out for comment to the embassies of Mexico , Saudi Arabia , and Uzbekistan in the U.S. and will update the story if we obtain a response .
update throughout with background and additional context .
