NSO Group Seeks Pause on WhatsApp Injunction, Citing Threat to Business and U.S. Government Work

NSO Group filed a motion this week asking a California court to temporarily halt the permanent injunction that bars the company from targeting WhatsApp with its Pegasus spyware. The motion, filed Wednesday, argues that enforcing the injunction while the company appeals would inflict irreparable harm on its operations and impede potential U.S. government use of its products.

Existential Threat to Business

The company contends that the injunction could effectively shut down NSO Group, which develops and sells the Pegasus spyware platform. The motion emphasizes that the court’s order requires the destruction of code that accesses or interacts with WhatsApp, a step NSO says cannot be reversed or compensated through monetary damages.

“The deletion and destruction of computer code and technologies cannot be undone or remedied by money damages — once these are gone, they are gone,” NSO wrote in its filing. The injunction, it argues, prevents NSO from legally developing, licensing, or selling its products for authorized government investigations, a restriction the company says could drive it out of business entirely.

NSO also claims that the injunction places it at a competitive disadvantage, as other spyware vendors face no similar restrictions. The company asserts that the order effectively blocks any business involving the collection of information from devices using WhatsApp data, even if the collection does not interact with WhatsApp servers directly.

Implications for U.S. Government Use

The motion underscores that the injunction could interfere with U.S. law enforcement and intelligence operations. NSO notes that the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) exempts “lawfully authorized investigative, protective, or intelligence activity” by federal agencies. By not carving out exceptions for U.S. government use, the injunction could prevent agencies like the FBI from obtaining licenses for Pegasus in future criminal or counterterrorism investigations.

The filing highlights the company’s recent efforts to strengthen its U.S. ties, including appointing a former Trump administration envoy to Israel as executive chairman and confirming U.S. investor backing. NSO argues that allowing the injunction to take effect could block the company from supporting authorized government work, which it says serves the public interest.

Background

NSO Group has faced longstanding scrutiny over Pegasus, which can remotely access and extract data from smartphones. The FBI previously held a license for Pegasus, and the company has sought removal from a U.S. trade blacklist during the previous Trump administration. Those efforts were unsuccessful, but NSO is now emphasizing its renewed U.S. engagement in the context of this injunction.

The California court has not yet ruled on NSO Group’s motion to stay the order, which the company hopes will preserve its ability to continue both commercial operations and potential collaborations with U.S. government agencies while its appeal is pending.