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Facebook's WhatsApp sued NSO in October after finding evidence
that the hacking firm had abused a flaw in the popular chat
program to remotely hijack hundreds of smartphones.
After NSO failed to show up in court, a California court clerk
entered a notice of default against NSO last week.
But NSO says it had not been served in accordance with
international law known as the Hague Convention.
Facebook "lied to the court in their application for default by
stating that defendants had been served under the Hague
Convention, when in fact, plaintiffs had been told by the
government of Israel two days earlier that service under the
Hague Convention was not complete, and the application for
service needed to be resubmitted," documents filed by NSO in the
Northern District of California court this week said.
NSO asked the court to impose sanctions of nearly $17,000 to
cover attorney's fees and costs.
Facebook also filed documents this week requesting the court set
aside the entry of default so that the case may proceed on
merits.
Facebook said it "diligently sought" to serve NSO in accordance
with the Hague Convention but Israel's Central Authority has not
yet issued a formal certificate of service.
"The court should decline the defendants' request to further
delay this case," Facebook said in the documents.
Facebook's lawsuit - along with alert messages that WhatsApp
sent to hundreds users allegedly affected by the hacking -
sparked disclosures about NSO’s surveillance work across the
world.
The case has been closely watched, both because of the high-tech
surveillance angle but also because it was unusual for a major
service provider to sue a hacking company on behalf of its
users.
(Reporting by Tova Cohen; Editing by Steven Scheer, Kirsten
Donovan)
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