A US court has ordered Israel’s NSO Group to stop targeting Meta Platforms’ WhatsApp messaging service, a development the spyware company warned could put it out of business.

In a 25-page ruling, handed down Friday, US District Court Judge Phyllis Hamilton imposed a permanent injunction on NSO Group’s efforts to break into WhatsApp, one of the world’s most widely used communications platforms.

Hamilton also handed NSO a significant break on the damages awarded in a recently concluded jury trial, reducing the punitive damages it owes Meta from about $167 million to $4 million.

The injunction is likely to pose a challenge to NSO, which has for years been accused of facilitating human rights abuses through its flagship hacking tool, Pegasus.

Pegasus takes advantage of weaknesses in common

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