Meta said on Monday it is filing a federal court contempt order against Israeli spyware firm NSO Group for violating a permanent injunction that barred it from ever targeting WhatsApp and its users. The company said its WhatsApp messaging service disrupted new spear phishing attempts linked to NSO, an entity blacklisted by the US government and identified as a national security risk. These attempts were similar to previous "1-click phishing campaigns," aimed to trick users into clicking malicious links and direct them to external websites, Meta said in a blogpost. WhatsApp took down test accounts and groups created by NSO on its platform. NSO did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Last year, a US court ordered NSO to stop targeting Meta's WhatsApp, a development the spyware company warned could put it out of business.
