An eight-person jury granted Meta $444,719 in compensatory damages to cover the costs of addressing the breach, plus an additional $167.25 million in punitive damages intended to discourage similar future actions by NSO, according to a court filing with the US District Court for the Northn District of California.

The case caps a six-year battle between the social media giant and the surveillance firm, casting an unusual amount of light on the spyware industry.

A California jury has awarded Meta more than $167 million in damages from Israeli surveillanceware slinger NSO Group, after the latter exploited a flaw in WhatsApp to allow its government customers to spy on supposedly secure communications.