Hello. Privacy matters continue to shape business strategies. Apple has sued NSO Group, an Israeli maker of surveillance software, alleging the company misused its products and services, escalating a battle over surveillance and user privacy.

The lawsuit alleges that NSO Group engaged in “concerted efforts in 2021 to target and attack Apple customers, Apple products and servers and Apple through dangerous malware and spyware,” and seeks to bar NSO Group from using Apple’s products.

The Apple suit bulks up opposition to NSO Group, which critics and privacy advocates accuse of selling hacking tools to governments with poor track records on human rights. The company denies these allegations. It says its tech has saved lives by surfacing pedophiles and terrorists.

This, and other news below. 

Readers, the Cyber Daily newsletter is taking a break for the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S. and will return to your inbox on Monday, Nov. 29.

NSO Group has developed hacking techniques to install its surveillance software, called Pegasus, on Apple’s mobile phones without a user’s knowledge or consent, according to security researchers. Pegasus, they say, turns the iPhone into a silent spying device by gaining access to the device’s files, messages, microphone and camera.

Apple’s lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, is another salvo in an emerging strategy against the surveillance techniques. In the past, Apple and other companies would use bug fixes and security enhancements to patch vulnerabilities and render such software unusable. Now, litigation and government pressure is increasingly becoming another tool to curtail its use.

In 2019, the WhatsApp messaging service sued NSO Group, alleging that the company sent malware to 1,400 of its users. WhatsApp is owned by Meta Platforms Inc., formerly known as Facebook.

An NSO Group spokesman didn’t address Apple’s allegations, but said in an emailed statement that the company’s technology has helped save thousands of lives around the world. “Pedophiles and terrorists can freely operate in technological safe-havens, and we provide governments the lawful tools to fight it,” he wrote.

Read the full story. 

Massive hack gave police a window on cocaine, cash and killers: For three weeks in February and March, Belgian officials say they eavesdropped as criminals used the messenger service Sky ECC to coordinate massive drug shipments, plan hits and exchange photos of cash, cocaine and corpses. The infiltration was a signature success in efforts by authorities across the world to counter encrypted communications—a powerful new tool for criminal gangs to hide their identities and hatch plans in secret.

👉 Law-enforcement officials say infiltrating Sky was the largest of several recent strikes against encrypted platforms. Authorities gathered roughly one billion messages from tens of thousands of Sky-enabled devices world-wide, which could feed investigations for years. Belgium has detained more than 500 suspects and seized 88 metric tons of cocaine, already exceeding last year’s record haul. (WSJ)

Baltimore County Public Schools, one of several districts hit with ransomware in the past two years, has shelled out nearly $9.7 million in response, recovery and rebuilding costs. BCPS expects cyber insurance to cover about $2 million. The district closed schools for three days in November 2020 as it dealt with the attack. (WYPR)

Well, that's sobering: Cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks Inc. set up 320 honeypots this summer in North America, Europe and Asia. Researchers laced them with various security holes to attract hackers and evaluate their methods and speed. Within 24 hours, 80% of the honeypots were compromised, the researchers found. (Bleeping Computer)

Nearly 1 million consumers affected by a hack at sales-lead-generation firm. Astoria Co., based in Fort Worth, Tex., disclosed in letters to state regulators that a hack in January compromised personal data related to 940,000 consumers. At risk are contact details and Social Security and driver's license numbers, and in some cases employment information, for people who have expressed interest in financial products, such as mortgages and car loans. 

• San Francisco-based cyber insurance provider Resilience said it raised $80 million in a Series C funding round, led by General Catalyst and Corey Thomas, chief executive of Rapid7 Inc. Resilience focuses on midsize companies and provides cybersecurity tools and services in addition to insurance. 
• Tel Aviv-based Zenity, which sells tools to secure low-code and no-code software, said it has raised $5 million in seed funding, led by Vertex Ventures and UpWest Labs. (TechCrunch) 

Write to the WSJ Pro Cybersecurity Team: Kim S. Nash, James Rundle, Catherine Stupp and David Uberti.

Follow us on Twitter: @knash99, @catstupp and @DavidUberti. 

Contact Enterprise Technology Editor Steve Rosenbush at steven.rosenbush@wsj.com or follow him on Twitter: @Steve_Rosenbush.