{"id":6000,"date":"2024-10-30T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-30T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/?p=82353"},"modified":"2024-10-30T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-10-30T16:00:00","slug":"legal-barriers-complicate-justice-for-spyware-victims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/2024\/10\/30\/legal-barriers-complicate-justice-for-spyware-victims\/","title":{"rendered":"Legal barriers complicate justice for spyware victims"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><head> <meta charset=\"UTF-8\"> <meta name=\"viewport\" content=\"width=device-width, initial-scale=1\"> <meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-image-preview:large, max-snippet:-1, max-video-preview:-1\"> <!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v21.7 (Yoast SEO v21.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ --> <title>Legal barriers complicate justice for spyware victims | CyberScoop<\/title> <meta name=\"description\" content=\"Spyware experts and victims tell CyberScoop that taking legal action is very hard, often beset by oft-overwhelming hurdles.\"> <link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/spyware-court-cases-nso-group-meta-whatsapp-apple\/\"> <meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\"> <meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\"> <meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Legal barriers complicate justice for spyware victims\"> <meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Spyware experts and victims tell CyberScoop that taking legal action is very hard, often beset by oft-overwhelming hurdles.\"> <meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/spyware-court-cases-nso-group-meta-whatsapp-apple\/\"> <meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CyberScoop\"> <meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-10-30T16:00:00+00:00\"> <meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-10-29T20:50:37+00:00\"> <meta name=\"author\" content=\"Greg Otto\"> <meta name=\"twitter:card\" 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content=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/01\/cropped-cs_favicon-2.png?w=270\"> <\/head><body class=\"post-template-default single single-post postid-82353 single-format-standard\" id=\"readabilityBody\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/spyware-court-cases-nso-group-meta-whatsapp-apple\/#main\" class=\"skip-to-content-link visually-hidden-focusable\">Skip to main content<\/a> <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--top ad--top-desktop\">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> <main id=\"main\" role=\"main\" tabindex=\"-1\"> <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--top ad--top-mobile\">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<section id=\"stickybar\" class=\"stickybar stickybar--newsletter js-stickybar\" readability=\"0.82\"> <button class=\"stickybar__close js-stickybar-close\" aria-controls=\"stickybar\"> <svg class=\"icon icon--close\" width=\"21\" height=\"22\" viewBox=\"0 0 21 22\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"m.822.518-.805.805L9.695 11 .017 20.678l.805.805 9.678-9.678 9.677 9.678.806-.805L11.305 11l9.678-9.677-.806-.805-9.677 9.677L.822.518Z\" fill=\"currentColor\" \/><\/svg> <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Close<\/span> <\/button> <\/section>\n<article class=\"single-article content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__container js-single-article-content\">\n<header class=\"single-article__header \" readability=\"25.85635359116\">\n<div class=\"single-article__header-content\" readability=\"30.53982300885\">\n<ul class=\"single-article__eyebrow\">\n<li class=\"single-article__category\"> <a class=\"single-article__category-link\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/news\/cybersecurity\/\"> <span>Cybersecurity<\/span> <\/a> <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> Some recent court rulings show the difficult road of anti-spyware litigation, but those in the fight also see signs of promise. <\/p>\n<p> <!-- Listen to this article section --> <!-- End of audio player --> <\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__cover-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"single-article__cover\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"640\" height=\"416\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/legal-barriers-complicate-justice-for-spyware-victims.jpg?resize=640%2C416&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"single-article__cover-image wp-post-image\" alt decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/legal-barriers-complicate-justice-for-spyware-victims-2.jpg 7660w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/legal-barriers-complicate-justice-for-spyware-victims-2.jpg?resize=300,195 300w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/legal-barriers-complicate-justice-for-spyware-victims-2.jpg?resize=768,499 768w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/legal-barriers-complicate-justice-for-spyware-victims-2.jpg?resize=1024,665 1024w, 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1039px) 100vw, 1039px\"><figcaption> The NSO Group company logo is displayed on a wall of a building next to one of their branches in the southern Israeli Arava valley near Sapir community centre on February 8, 2022. NSO Group currently has 39 legal cases against it due to the fallout around its Pegasus spyware product. (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA \/ AFP) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"single-article__content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__content-inner has-drop-cap\"> <html readability=\"117.55130545919\"><body readability=\"235.81132607062\"><\/p>\n<p>Last month, Apple sought to drop its lawsuit against spyware industry leader NSO Group, citing a number of difficulties with advancing the case. This month, WhatsApp parent company Meta asked a judge to punish the same company for not complying with orders to hand over its source code. And for years, many victims have failed to get courts to take action against spyware manufacturers or countries that deployed the invasive technology against them.<\/p>\n<p>For litigants who seek remedies against spyware makers and users in court, it all points to this conclusion: Taking legal action against spyware is very hard, beset by oft-overwhelming hurdles.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s not to say that it\u2019s a pointless tactic, advocates say, nor that it\u2019s hopeless. Some cases have had good outcomes for plaintiffs. And some cases still show promise for them. The U.S. Supreme Court, for instance, dealt a setback last year to NSO Group\u2019s attempt to get the Meta case dismissed, and U.K. courts twice in recent weeks have allowed spyware cases to go forward, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/bahrain-loses-state-immunity-appeal-dissidents-uk-lawsuit-over-spyware-2024-10-04\/\">against Bahrain<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/uk-based-dissident-can-sue-saudi-arabia-alleged-spyware-court-rules-2024-10-21\/\">Saudi Arabia<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re still learning what works to stem the harmful proliferation of mercenary spyware. Part of that will be to get accountability for victims,\u201d said John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at the University of Toronto\u2019s Citizen Lab, which works to uncover spyware abuses. \u201cClearly there\u2019s a role for litigation and the justice system as one of those lines of change.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cUp until now, however, a lot of victims have struggled to get their cases to move forward, and keep moving,\u201d he continued. \u201cSome of that traces back to forms of immunity that spyware companies and their government customers seek to shield themselves with.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One of the most high-profile plaintiffs is Hanan Elatr, the widow of slain Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. A federal court in Virginia almost precisely one year ago dismissed her case against NSO Group over allegations that Saudi Arabia spied on her and her husband prior to his murder, a legal result that she told CyberScoop was \u201cvery disappointing for me.\u201d But a three-judge panel heard arguments in an appeal of that ruling Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is no justice for Jamal,\u201d she said, adding that the murder \u201calso did destroy my life and my family\u2019s life.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt least, at least, I have to start to bring justice for him by starting with the tools that led to him,\u201d she said. Other avenues for that justice have been flustered, she said. \u201cThis is the only hope I have, the last hope.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite the disappointment of the earlier ruling in her case, a case advancing against Saudi Arabia in the United Kingdom gave her hope. Furthermore, she said, \u201cI do trust the justice system here in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Citizen Lab keeps <a href=\"https:\/\/citizenlab.ca\/2018\/12\/litigation-and-other-formal-complaints-concerning-targeted-digital-surveillance-and-the-digital-surveillance-industry\/\">a running log<\/a> of both open and closed legal actions against spyware makers or cases that otherwise implicate them, a tally that runs nearly 60 instances long and dates back to 2011. The vast majority, 39, are against NSO Group.<\/p>\n<p>One of the many hurdles is how courts interpret the 1976 Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which established the standards governing when foreign governments may be subject to U.S. court jurisdiction. For example, a U.S. court <a href=\"https:\/\/harvardlawreview.org\/print\/vol-131\/doe-v-federal-democratic-republic-of-ethiopia\/\">decided in 2017<\/a> that a Maryland man who sued the Ethiopian government over allegations that it had infected his computer with spyware and committed other privacy violations could not do so because of the 1976 law.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSuing a company is easier than suing a state\u201d because of the courts\u2019 interpretation of that law, said David Kaye, a law professor at University of California-Irvine and former United Nations special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression. In arguments in a petition the Supreme Court ultimately denied last year, \u201cNSO Group kind of failed in its effort to present itself as an agent of a state that should also get the same kinds of protections as a state,\u201d Kaye said.<\/p>\n<p>Other jurisdictional problems have arisen in spyware cases, though, even when they aren\u2019t targeting specific countries\u2019 governments. In March, a U.S. court <a href=\"https:\/\/casetext.com\/case\/dada-v-nso-grp-techs\">dismissed a lawsuit<\/a> filed in California against NSO Group by <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/nso-group-journalists-suit-el-salvador\/\">El Salvadoran journalists<\/a> who said they were victims of the company\u2019s technology, with the judge citing the legal doctrine of \u201cforum non conveniens,\u201d under which a court declines to take up a case that it finds more suitable for another court \u2014 such as in Israel, the headquarters of NSO Group, or El Salvador.<\/p>\n<p>The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, which represents the journalists, is appealing the ruling, saying that despite the judge\u2019s logic, the case belongs in California given the abuse of Apple\u2019s servers, among other reasons.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cWe hope that the district court\u2019s decision is reversed, because we think U.S. courts have a crucial role to play in protecting all of us from the dangers that these spyware manufacturers pose, and we think they\u2019re well situated,\u201d said Stephanie Krent, staff attorney with the institute.<\/p>\n<p>The Virginia court <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/dc-md-va\/2023\/10\/26\/jamal-khashoggi-nso-pegasus-spyware-widow-lawsuit-dismissed\/\">cited similar reasons<\/a> as the California court when it dismissed a suit against NSO Group brought by Elatr.<\/p>\n<p>Some of the barriers are more strategic in nature, although there is some overlap with the difficulties presented when attempting to sue a foreign entity. Israel has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/news\/article\/2024\/jul\/25\/israel-tried-to-frustrate-us-lawsuit-over-pegasus-spyware-leak-suggests\">reportedly taken steps<\/a> to shelter NSO Group against U.S. courts by seizing documents about its Pegasus spyware to keep the firm from having to comply with disclosure requirements in the WhatsApp case.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>NSO Group also has sought to turn the tables on its opponents. It has <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2024\/05\/06\/pegasus-nso-group-israeli-spyware-citizen-lab\/\">requested information<\/a> in court from organizations like Citizen Lab, and Apple cited potential disclosure of sensitive company information as potentially harmful to its efforts to defend its customers and one of the reasons it sought to withdraw its suit. NSO Group supported the withdrawal, but for <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/nso-group-court-filing-apple-lawsuit\/\">different reasons<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s \u201cironic\u201d and \u201cunfortunate\u201d that Apple had a \u201cphilosophical and business interest\u201d and \u201cmoral right\u201d to file the suit only to have to withdraw it to protect technical information, said Sophia Cope, senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which has litigated against and joined other suits against spyware makers and users.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>While <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/supreme-court-whatsapp-nso-group-spyware\/\">the Supreme Court ruled<\/a> that NSO Group had to hand over its source code to Meta earlier this year, the two sides are still in dispute over it, along with other discovery requests. Meta urged the court to issue <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bloomberglaw.com\/privacy-and-data-security\/nso-should-lose-spyware-case-for-discovery-violations-meta-says\">a summary judgment<\/a> in its favor because NSO hadn\u2019t complied, which NSO <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bloomberglaw.com\/ip-law\/spyware-maker-nso-group-counters-metas-bid-for-court-sanctions\">&nbsp;called \u201cludicrous.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s certainly clear that their strategy is to block, delay and postpone as much as possible,\u201d Krent said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Yet another barrier can be the laws under which plaintiffs are seeking victory. The 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the main U.S. anti-hacking law, has a number of thresholds plaintiffs have to meet, such as demonstrating $5,000 in damages.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen Congress passed that law, they were originally thinking, \u2018You have a hacker breaching the system of a corporation, and maybe wiping the hard drives of all these computers, and so you, the company, has to spend all this money buying new computers or hiring someone to re-network everything,\u2019\u201d Cope said. With an invasion of privacy that comes with spyware use, it is possible to demonstrate someone has suffered damages, but \u201cit\u2019s a little more challenging to show you had monetizable damage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kaye is bullish about the prospects of the Meta suit against NSO Group, which he said was bolstered by a sound legal strategy, a track record of wins such as the Supreme Court ruling and an atmosphere that\u2019s unfavorable for NSO Group in courts that might not not want to allow abuses to continue. U.K. courts, meanwhile, have proven more fertile terrain for spyware victims to pursue answers, as two recent rulings show.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Another U.K. court ruling demonstrated the value of information that can come out of the cases: Court documents released in 2021 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/06\/world\/europe\/dubai-sheik-hacked-phones-ex-wife-uk.html\">showed that<\/a> the ruler of Dubai deployed NSO Group spyware to infiltrate the cell phones of his ex-wife and others, including a member of the House of Lords who had been representing the ex-wife.<\/p>\n<p>There are limits to what can be disclosed in those cases, but the prospect of disclosure is a threat to the spyware business model, Cope said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the end of the day, if NSO Group and companies like it are aware that they may have to disclose information about their customers and about their practices to the public or even under protective orders to other attorneys and to the court, it makes the value proposition that they\u2019re selling to those customers less appealing, right?\u201d she said. \u201cBecause the number one thing they\u2019re selling is secrecy. So if lawsuits are successful at chipping away at that, that could change the calculus for this type of spyware and the popularity of it overall.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>NSO Group said in a statement provided to CyberScoop that \u201cNSO has consistently argued that a foreign technology company licensed lawful-intercept technology to foreign governments, which then used the technology to monitor foreign criminals and terrorists in foreign countries for those countries\u2019 own national security and other sovereign interests.\u201d It also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2021\/jul\/18\/nso-spyware-used-to-target-family-of-jamal-khashoggi-leaked-data-shows-saudis-pegasus\">has denied<\/a> that government clients used its technology against Khashoggi or his family.<\/p>\n<p>Cope said another potential avenue to pursue abusers of spyware opened up last year with<a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov\/datastore\/opinions\/2023\/07\/07\/15-16909.pdf\"> a court ruling <\/a>involving the Alien Tort Statute, which allows foreign citizens to file lawsuits in U.S. courts over certain violations of international law. The ruling <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eff.org\/deeplinks\/2023\/07\/victory-ninth-circuit-allows-human-rights-case-move-forward-against-cisco-systems\">offered a pathway<\/a> for plaintiffs to pursue legal action against companies that aid and abet human rights abuses, she said \u2014 and Cope\u2019s group has already <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eff.org\/document\/alhathloul-v-darkmatter-group-opposition-motion-dismiss\">cited that ruling<\/a> in opposing a motion to dismiss a lawsuit against a spyware maker, DarkMatter.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Krent said the ideal scenario is convincing a judge to make sound law, but failing that, there can be other valuable elements about filing suit as long as it\u2019s non-frivolous, including putting a focus on the issue for Congress and the media.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The legal battle against spyware could be a long one with other parallels, such as litigation against tobacco companies or environmental litigation, Scott-Railton said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am optimistic that some victims will find justice and there will be paths to accountability,\u201d he said. \u201cBut like so many other efforts to hold companies accountable for putting profits ahead of people, it\u2019s going to take time, and progress won\u2019t be linear.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><\/body> <\/p>\n<footer class=\"single-article__footer\">\n<div class=\"author-card\" readability=\"7.7216117216117\">\n<div class=\"author-card__avatar\">\n<figure class=\"author-card__image-wrap\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-card__image\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/legal-barriers-complicate-justice-for-spyware-victims-1.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Tim Starks\"> <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"author-card__details\" readability=\"10.901098901099\">\n<h4 class=\"author-card__name\">Written by Tim Starks<\/h4>\n<p> Tim Starks is senior reporter at CyberScoop. His previous stops include working at The Washington Post, POLITICO and Congressional Quarterly. An Evansville, Ind. native, he&#8217;s covered cybersecurity since 2003. Email Tim here: <a href=\"mailto:tim.starks@cyberscoop.com\">tim.starks@cyberscoop.com<\/a>. <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__tags-container\">\n<h4 class=\"single-article__tags-title\">In This Story<\/h4>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/footer>\n<p> <\/html><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__ads js-single-article-sidebar\">\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-5 ad--rightrail_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-4 ad--rightrail_2 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-3 ad--rightrail_3 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"popular-stories popular-stories--single-post\">\n<div 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