Meta Blocks NSO Group's New WhatsApp Phishing Attack, Files Contempt Order

Meta on Monday said it detected and blocked spear-phishing attempts linked to Israeli spyware vendor NSO Group. In addition, the tech giant said it's filing a federal court contempt order against the company for violating a permanent injunction that barred it from targeting WhatsApp and its users. "They tried to trick people into clicking on malicious links to drive them to external websites

The article reports that Meta detected and blocked new spear-phishing campaigns on WhatsApp allegedly linked to Israeli spyware vendor NSO Group, which attempted to lure users to malicious external domains using 1‑click style phishing links.[2][3] Meta is also filing a federal court contempt motion, arguing these activities violate an existing permanent injunction barring NSO from targeting WhatsApp and its users.[1][4] From a CyberSE.AI perspective, this reflects ongoing, well-resourced offensive operations that can be augmented by AI-driven phishing, targeting high‑value users and communications platforms. Organizations should assume similar campaigns could leverage AI for scalable social engineering, and deploy continuous red teaming and AI-aware CISO governance to test defenses against spear-phishing, link-based exploitation, and malicious infrastructure targeting collaboration and messaging environments.