The mobile messaging mobile application WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook, sued Israeli surveillance firm NSO Group on Tuesday for allegedly helping governments hack into the phones of some 1,400 users around the world, including diplomats, dissidents, journalists and senior government officials, Reuters reported.
The lawsuit, filed in a San Francisco court, accuses NSO Group of facilitating the hacking in 20 countries, including Mexico, the UAE and Bahrain. The Israeli company denied the allegation.
“In the strongest possible terms, we dispute today’s allegations and will vigorously fight them. The sole purpose of NSO is to provide technology to licensed government intelligence and law enforcement agencies to help them fight terrorism and serious crime,” NSO said in a statement, according to the report.
WhatsApp said the hacking took advantage of its video calling feature to send malware to targeted phones.