NSO's Direct Role in Pegasus Spyware Operations Exposed in Court Documents
Court documents from a WhatsApp lawsuit against NSO Group reveal that NSO executives testified the company exercises significant operational control over Pegasus spyware deployment, contradicting NSO's claims of distance from how government clients use the tool. The documents show NSO controlled installation, data retrieval, and server infrastructure for Pegasus operations targeting thousands of users, including Thai activists.
What happened
Court documents released in a WhatsApp lawsuit against NSO Group revealed that NSO executives testified about NSO's deep involvement in deploying Pegasus spyware. NSO executives stated that customers' role in installation was minimal and that NSO controlled the data retrieval and delivery process, with customers only needing to enter a target device number and press install.
A Northern California federal judge ordered the unredacted court filings be published, showing that NSO's vice president of client executives secured WhatsApp accounts used by Pegasus and set up and controlled server infrastructure for implanting the spyware.
Reported impact
The testimonies raise questions about NSO's culpability for spyware abuses by its government clients, contradicting the company's long-standing claim that it maintains distance from how clients use the spyware. An investigation by Thai civil society groups found that 35 individuals in Thailand were targeted using Pegasus in 2020 and 2021, predominantly activists and scholars.
Index analysis
The court documents suggest NSO Group exercised significant operational control over Pegasus deployment rather than merely providing the technology to clients. According to a WhatsApp filing citing NSO executives' depositions, the installation process was 'a matter for NSO and the system to take care of, not a matter for customers to operate.'
Governance controls
NSO Group has maintained it operates under strict regulatory frameworks and ethical standards and that its technologies are exclusively provided to government agencies for prevention of serious crimes and terrorism. Thai government agencies acknowledged in 2022 that state agencies had used Pegasus for activities related to security or narcotics.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.