Apple no longer wants to sue NSO Group, asks court to dismiss lawsuit

While Apple continues to believe its lawsuit against NSO Group has its merits, the company is also determined that proceeding further with this case has the potential to put vital security information at risk.

In November 2021, Apple filed a lawsuit against NSO Group, an Israeli spyware manufacturer that’s responsible for the development of Pegasus.

To this day, the software is considered sophisticated surveillance technology that has been used to secretly spy on its victims across multiple platforms, such as journalists, activists, dissidents, academics, and government officials. Pegasus has been deployed via zero-day attacks since at least 2016.

“State-sponsored actors like the NSO Group spend millions of dollars on sophisticated surveillance technologies without effective accountability. That needs to change,” Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering, Craig Federighi, said at the time.

Ivan Krstić, head of Apple Security Engineering and Architecture, agreed with Federighi and added: “At Apple, we are always working to defend our users against even the most complex cyberattacks. The steps we’re taking today will send a clear message: in a free society, it is unacceptable to weaponize powerful state-sponsored spyware against those who seek to make the world a better place.”

The goal of the lawsuit was to prevent further abuse and harm to Apple’s users. The Cupertino-based tech company was also seeking a permanent injunction to ban NSO Group from using Apple software, services, and devices.

However, Apple has a change of heart and no longer wishes to pursue legal action against NSO Group. In a motion for voluntary dismissal, Apple explains why it wishes to drop the lawsuit.

“Apple’s teams work tirelessly to protect the critical threat-intelligence information that Apple uses to protect its users worldwide. Because of these efforts, along with the efforts of others in the industry and national governments to combat the rise of commercial spyware, defendants have been substantially weakened. At the same time, unfortunately, other malicious actors have arisen in the commercial spyware industry. It is because of this combination of factors that Apple now seeks voluntary dismissal of this case,” Apple says in the motion.

In addition, Apple says that companies like NSO Group will use any means to obtain vital and sensitive security information. Any disclosure, even under the most stringent controls, puts such information at risk. “Because of the developments since this suit was filed, proceeding forward at this time would now present too significant a risk to Apple’s threat-intelligence program,” the company says.