The Israeli electronic surveillance company NSO Group was ordered to pay $167 million in damages to WhatsApp and its parent company Meta, bringing a close to six years of litigation.

The Israeli firm behind the Pegasus spyware has been ordered to pay WhatsApp $167m (£125m) for hacking 1,400 people in 2019. Pegasus is malicious software which can be installed remotely on mobile phones to access, among other things, people's microphones and cameras.

NSO Group could be exposed to liability from other technology groups for exploiting their platforms’ vulnerabilities