A US judge on Friday granted an injunction barring Israeli spyware maker NSO Group from targeting WhatsApp users but slashed a $168 million damages award at trial to just $4 million.

District Judge Phyllis Hamilton ruled that NSO Group’s behavior fell short of a “particularly egregious” standard needed to support the jury’s calculations on a financial penalty.

But in the ruling, seen by AFP, she said the court “concluded that defendants’ conduct causes irreparable harm, and there being no dispute that the conduct is ongoing” the judge granted WhatsApp owner Meta an injunction to stop NSO Group’s snooping tactics at the messaging service.

“Today’s ruling bans spyware maker NSO from ever targeting WhatsApp and our global users again,” WhatsApp boss Will Cathcart said in a statement.

“We applaud this decision that comes after six years of litigation to hold NSO accountable for targeting members of civil society.”

Evidence at trial showed that NSO Group reverse-engineered WhatsApp code to stealthily install spyware targeting users, according to the ruling.

The spyware was repeatedly redesigned to escape detection and bypass security fixes at WhatsApp, the court concluded.

The lawsuit, filed in late 2019, accused NSO Group of cyberespionage targeting journalists, lawyers, human rights activists and others using the encrypted messaging service.

Hamilton ruled however that the $168 million damages verdict awarded to Meta earlier this year was excessive.

“There have simply not yet been enough cases involving unlawful electronic surveillance in the smartphone era for the court to be able to conclude that defendants’ conduct was ‘particularly egregious’,” Hamilton wrote in the ruling which was seen by AFP.

“As time goes on, more of a shared societal consensus may emerge about the acceptability of defendants’ conduct.”

‘Malicious code’

Founded in 2010 by Israelis Shalev Hulio and Omri Lavie, NSO Group is based in the seaside high-tech hub of Herzliya, near Tel Aviv.

Media website TechCrunch reported Friday that a US investment group has acquired controlling interest in NSO Group.

The Israeli firm produces Pegasus, a highly invasive tool that can reportedly switch on a target’s cell phone camera and microphone and access data on it, effectively turning the phone into a pocket spy.

The suit filed in a California federal court contended that NSO tried to infect approximately 1,400 “target devices” with malicious software to steal valuable information.

Infecting smartphones or other gadgets being used for WhatsApp messages meant the content of messages encrypted during transmission could be accessed after they were unscrambled.

The complaint said the attackers “developed a program to enable them to emulate legitimate WhatsApp network traffic in order to transmit malicious code” to take over the devices.

The software has been pinpointed by independent experts as being used by nation states, some of them with poor human rights records.

NSO Group has maintained it only licenses its software to governments for fighting crime and terrorism.

© 2025 AFP

A new app with a straightforward name wants to make it easier for people to fix their stuff by helping them find trustworthy repair services near them.

The Repair App launched today, on a day that’s being celebrated as International Repair Day. The app is currently available in beta form in the US and France, because that’s where cofounders Robert Lise and Caleb Faruki reside, respectively. If the app does well, more countries should be added soon.

The app arrives during a time of renewed interest in the right to repair movement. Through lobbying efforts and consumer advocacy campaigns, right to repair folks argue that when somebody buys a piece of technology, they should have the legal right to fix it, replace broken parts, or upgrade it using services, tools, and replacement parts accessed on the open market.

“You don’t actually own something if you don’t have the ability to repair it,” says Lise, the app’s cofounder.

It sounds like a position that doesn’t need much advocacy, but large companies like Apple, Samsung, and John Deere, have been resistant to allow their customers to tinker with their products.

Lise says the goal of The Repair App is to platform businesses and service providers who cover just about anything that can be repaired, from devices like phones and computers to bicycles, clothes, and maybe eventually vehicles. To start, they have reached out to verified repair businesses that they can vet for inclusion in the app.

Matt Zieminski, vice president of Repair.org and VP of partnerships at the repair marketplace iFixit, has worked with Lise and the others on the Repair App and says he supports the project. He says that if the app is utilized by enough people, it could make finding options for fixing your stuff easier than it is now.

For example, if you’re searching for repair options on Google, Zieminski says, your local community repair shops might not necessarily come up as one of the top results. Instead, you’re presented with big repair franchises or generic service providers.

The Repair App will instead show you the shops closest to you that have been vetted by the tech repair experts behind the app.

“I think this is really cool,” Zieminski says. ”It is going to level that playing field and allow everybody to find the services they need and then to offer the services to people that may not even know those services exist.”

Linking customers to businesses is certainly not a new service. (Remember phonebooks?) Sites like Thumbtack or Angi (formerly Angie’s List) have long acted as repositories for finding handypeople to hire for a variety of tasks. Places like Upwork and Fiverr put a gig economy spin on the same format. And there are more specific service finder sites like RepairPal, a resource for car repair shops. (RepairPal was bought by Yelp last year.)

As much as the Mini felt very comfortable and good inside, once I started exploring vibration modes, I began to fear exactly how secure the whole thing was. Based on the wiggling feeling I was experiencing, I had concerns. What if I used too much lube, got excessively wet on my own in addition to the already-applied lube, or sneezed? Will the Lush Mini fly out? None of these things happened when I tried the Mini, but you can feel the smaller size, and it’s hard not to imagine it falling out on its own.

If I were to let my partner control the Mini via the Lovenese app while we were out on the town, I’d better be rocking a very snug pair of full-coverage granny panties. This is far from a tragedy, as outdoor sexual adventures aren’t a requirement for me. But it’s important for internal products to feel secure and safe for me to relax and have an orgasm.

Although I find the greatest pleasure from clitoral stimulation, I do love a strong G-spot vibration—especially when the two are working together. After all, you never know when a blended orgasm might come your way. The spectrum of intensities for the external arm is definitely enough for me, so much so that I didn’t need to click my way up to the most powerful setting, but the inside vibrations are subpar.

According to Lovense’s site and manual, both the Mini and Lush 4 deliver up to 7,000 vibrations a minute and unlimited patterns via the app. The vibration intensity I was experiencing internally was most likely linked to the size of the egg. Despite it being smaller, ever-so-slightly, it wasn’t covering enough area against my G-spot, and I could feel that.

Solo or Couples Play

Like every Lovense Lush model, the Lush Mini is waterproof and has a long battery life. It takes only 40 minutes to fully charge, and you get close to four hours of playtime, depending on how much you crank up the modes. Should things go south mid-romp, you can get another hour of use from a quick seven-minute charge. I strongly feel all sex toys should include a fast-charging option like this.

It’s a fun couples toy as much as it’s an interesting solo toy. But if you’re experienced in the Lovense Lush line or similar toys during partnered play, you may want to skip the Mini for the larger Lush 4 (which costs around the same). If you’re new to this arena, however, then the Mini is likely to be a good fit for you. Beginners, this baby is for you.