A subsidiary of Facebook, WhatsApp, has just filed a suit against Israeli cyber-intelligence firm NSO Group. WhatsApp claims that the NSO Group took advantage of a vulnerability found in the instant messaging app.
NSO is after WhatsApp users😨
Reports have it that the NSO after exploiting the vulnerability went on to infected over 1,400 phones with some sort of malware.
The NSO was reported to have created fake WhatsApp accounts with numbers from different countries. Then they used those numbers to create a “network of remote servers intended to distribute malware and relay commands to the target devices.” (That sad)
WhatsApp also claims that this act has been going on since April 29 of 2018 till May 10 of 2019.😲 WhatsApp parent company Facebook, said they fixed the vulnerability after their WhatsApp servers experienced some attacks.
Commenting on the issue, WhatsApp said that the attack “has all the hallmarks of a private company known to work with governments to deliver spyware that reportedly takes over the functions of mobile phone operating systems.”
The NSO has been known to build some very powerful and even sometimes dangerous malware, one of their very popular work is their “Pegasus project” which is another malware that is capable of taking over any phone and even accessing any cloud accounts connected to the device. (I know, that some creepy sh*t)
But there is no need to be scared, this kind of projects are usually sold to trusted government bodies to use in combating terrorism.
The NSO came out to clear the air by saying that “The sole purpose of NSO is to provide technology to licensed government intelligence and law enforcement agencies to help them fight terrorism and serious crime. Our technology is not designed or licensed for use against human rights activists and journalists. It has helped to save thousands of lives over recent years.”
Well, let just wait and see if Facebook is gonna be buying that excuse or are they gonna be going on to sue the shadowy NSO.
Let us know what you think about this down in the comment section, do you think the NSO is at fault or not?
