WhatsApp spyware scandal: Facebook parent Meta wins $168 million in damages from Israeli surveillance firm NSO

Meta Platforms won a $168 million verdict against the Israeli surveillance firm NSO, the company said Tuesday, capping a six-year arm wrestling match between America’s biggest social networking platform and the world’s best known spyware company.

Meta had already won a December ruling finding that NSO had unlawfully exploited a bug in its messaging service WhatsApp to plant spy software on its users’ phones. On Tuesday, a jury in California ruled that NSO owed Meta $444,719 in compensatory damages – and $167.3 million in punitive damages, Meta said.