Microsoft files an amicus brief in a legal case against the NSO Group

NSO Group sells its software tools to government agencies. Government agencies use them to break into people’s computers, phones and internet-connected devices. NSO Group is now trying to get legal immunity which would shield it from accountability when its weapons inflict harm on innocent people and businesses. Microsoft yesterday joined Cisco, GitHub, Google, LinkedIn, VMWare and the Internet Association in filing an amicus brief in a legal case brought by WhatsApp against the NSO Group.

“The expansion of sovereign immunity that NSO seeks would further encourage the burgeoning cyber-surveillance industry to develop, sell and use tools to exploit vulnerabilities in violation of U.S. law. Private companies should remain subject to liability when they use their cyber-surveillance tools to break the law, or knowingly permit their use for such purposes, regardless of who their customers are or what they’re trying to achieve. We hope that standing together with our competitors today through this amicus brief will help protect our collective customers and global digital ecosystem from more indiscriminate attacks,” wrote Tom Burt, Corporate Vice President, Customer Security & Trust.

Source: Microsoft