During a lawsuit hearing, NSO Group's lawyer revealed that the governments of Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and Uzbekistan utilized the company's Pegasus spyware to target over 1,400 WhatsApp users in 2019. This is a significant acknowledgment, as NSO has historically refrained from disclosing its clients. WhatsApp has alleged that many of the targeted users were human rights activists and journalists. The case underscores ongoing concerns about government misuse of surveillance technologies and their impact on civil society.
This is the first time that representatives for NSO Group have publicly confirmed who the spyware maker's customers are (or were), after years of refusing to acknowledge or discuss its clientele.
WhatsApp claimed that there were more than 100 targeted victims who work as human rights activists, journalists, and 'other members of civil society.'
NSO Group's lawyer Akrotirianakis specifically named the three governments as the spyware-using customers, according to a transcript of the hearing obtained by TechCrunch this week.
The revelation comes as part of a lawsuit brought by Meta-owned WhatsApp in 2019, which accused NSO Group of hacking around 1,400 WhatsApp users.
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