Meta says Israeli-founded spyware firm targeted WhatsApp users in Jordan & Lebanon
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An Israeli-founded spyware company has been targeting WhatsApp users in Jordan and Lebanon with malicious links, according to Meta, despite a US court order prohibiting such activity.
Earlier this week, Meta said it had detected and disrupted "spear phishing attempts" by NSO Group on WhatsApp that targeted a small number of users in Jordan and Lebanon.
The company also stated that it identified NSO Group setting up "test accounts and groups" on WhatsApp.
WhatsApp subsequently released details of the single-click infection domains allegedly used by NSO Group, listing "ikhwancast", "ghazacast" and "fr24cast".
John Scott-Railton of Citizen Lab questioned whether the latter domain may have been an attempt to impersonate the French media outlet France24.
NSO Group, founded in Israel, is known for developing the Pegasus spyware, which can infiltrate WhatsApp accounts and access messages, photos, calls and other personal data.
The company has reportedly been under US ownership since last year.