The lawsuit from the giants was filed at the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and will run parallel to Facebook’s own lawsuit against NSO. To recap, Facebook filed its own lawsuit against the cyber surveillance firm, accusing it of having exploited a bug within the popular messaging app, WhatsApp, and spying on more than 1400 people globally. Microsoft, Google, Dell, and Cisco’s lawsuit are, in effect, aimed at shutting down NSO’s claims that the company should be free from any backlash on the grounds of “sovereign immunity”, a doctrine akin to the phrase “You can’t touch me”.
Unsurprisingly, this isn’t NSO’s first time in the spotlight. Recently, the company’s hacking software took center stage with allegations pointing at it being used to hack into the iPhones of 37 journalists, several of them working for Al-Jazeera. The most serious accusation against it, however, is its alleged links to the gruesome murder and dismemberment of the Saudi Arabian journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, supposed by agents of the Saudi government. NSO has denied any involvement in that event, and to date, has declined to comment on its spying technology. (Source: Reuters)
