Meta’s WhatsApp says it detected and disrupted spear-phishing activity linked to spyware provider NSO Group, and it is asking a federal court to hold NSO in contempt. The allegations concern attacks that WhatsApp characterizes as social engineering designed to trick users into clicking malicious links. According to WhatsApp, the incident also involved setup activity such as creating test accounts and groups, which WhatsApp says it disables while taking additional steps.
WhatsApp frames the matter as a possible violation of a court order that prohibits NSO from targeting WhatsApp and its users. The dispute stems from earlier litigation: WhatsApp and Meta sued NSO in 2019 after reports that NSO exploited a zero-day vulnerability to deliver spyware via WhatsApp. In the current filings, WhatsApp argues that NSO is not complying with the permanent injunction and requests the court enforce it through contempt proceedings.
NSO has previously contested the injunction, claiming that restricting its ability to target WhatsApp would cause irreparable harm and seeking to overturn the order. The outlets reporting on the case describe WhatsApp sharing limited technical indicators of compromise while linking the new attempt to NSO based on similarities to prior, reported phishing patterns.
