Apple Sues Pegasus Spyware Firm NSO Over ‘Attacks' On Its Users

Apple has launched a lawsuit against NSO Group, the Israeli spyware company that was recently blacklisted by the Biden administration for acting “contrary to the foreign policy and national security interests of the US”.

- Stephanie Kirchgaessner

The move marks a sharp turnaround for the technology company, which previously downplayed the threat posed by the spyware, and underscores growing concern and frustration among technology firms about the proliferation of attacks against their customers.

In its complaint, Apple said that NSO’s signature spyware, called Pegasus, had been used to “attack a small number of Apple users worldwide with malicious malware and spyware”.

The Pegasus Project, an investigation into NSO by the Guardian and other media outlets, coordinated by the French media group Forbidden Stories, has documented dozens of examples in which NSO’s spyware was used to attack users of Apple’s iPhone. In some cases, a vulnerability in the company’s iMessage feature, which could be penetrated by Pegasus, was used against journalists, human rights activists, and other members of civil society.