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Saudi Arabia’s CITC Hosts 1st RegTech Symposium with Participation of Global Experts

Among other things the symposium aims to shed light on the role and importance of regulatory technologies in governance
Among other things the symposium aims to shed light on the role and importance of regulatory technologies in governance
TT
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Saudi Arabia’s CITC Hosts 1st RegTech Symposium with Participation of Global Experts

Among other things the symposium aims to shed light on the role and importance of regulatory technologies in governance
Among other things the symposium aims to shed light on the role and importance of regulatory technologies in governance

Saudi Arabia’s Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) will host the first Regulatory Technologies (RegTech) symposium on Monday.

The symposium aims to shed light on the role and importance of regulatory technologies in governance, risk, and compliance management. It discusses a multitude of topics that range from the roles played by companies and institutes in regulation and oversight to the promising opportunities for startups and entrepreneurs.

The symposium will comprise lively panel discussions and engaging presentations, which in their entirety will lay the foundation for what RegTech is, examine the most promising opportunities for RegTech in the Kingdom, and sneak a peek into the latest global practices in RegTech. This will take place in the presence of some internationally-acclaimed experts as well as compliance and risk management specialists from various companies and regulatory bodies in the Kingdom.

Within its wide spectrum of topics, the symposium will put emerging and advance technologies under the spotlight for the purposes of emphasizing the role of those technologies in improving regulatory and supervisory performance, contributing to compliance, alleviating regulatory burdens, and increasing operational efficiency.

The event will also survey the most prominent RegTech solutions and emerging companies.

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US Judge Finds Israel's NSO Group Liable for Hacking in WhatsApp Lawsuit

Israeli cyber firm NSO Group's exhibition stand is seen at "ISDEF 2019", an international defense and homeland security expo, in Tel Aviv, Israel June 4, 2019. REUTERS/Keren Manor/File Photo
Israeli cyber firm NSO Group's exhibition stand is seen at "ISDEF 2019", an international defense and homeland security expo, in Tel Aviv, Israel June 4, 2019. REUTERS/Keren Manor/File Photo
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US Judge Finds Israel's NSO Group Liable for Hacking in WhatsApp Lawsuit

Israeli cyber firm NSO Group's exhibition stand is seen at "ISDEF 2019", an international defense and homeland security expo, in Tel Aviv, Israel June 4, 2019. REUTERS/Keren Manor/File Photo
Israeli cyber firm NSO Group's exhibition stand is seen at "ISDEF 2019", an international defense and homeland security expo, in Tel Aviv, Israel June 4, 2019. REUTERS/Keren Manor/File Photo

A US judge ruled on Friday in favor of Meta Platforms' WhatsApp in a lawsuit accusing Israel's NSO Group of exploiting a bug in the messaging app to install spy software allowing unauthorized surveillance.

US District Judge Phyllis Hamilton in Oakland, California, granted a motion by WhatsApp and found NSO liable for hacking and breach of contract.

The case will now proceed to a trial only on the issue of damages, Hamilton said. NSO Group did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment, according to Reuters.

Will Cathcart, the head of WhatsApp, said the ruling is a win for privacy.

"We spent five years presenting our case because we firmly believe that spyware companies could not hide behind immunity or avoid accountability for their unlawful actions," Cathcart said in a social media post.

"Surveillance companies should be on notice that illegal spying will not be tolerated."

Cybersecurity experts welcomed the judgment.

John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher with Canadian internet watchdog Citizen Lab — which first brought to light NSO’s Pegasus spyware in 2016 — called the judgment a landmark ruling with “huge implications for the spyware industry.”

“The entire industry has hidden behind the claim that whatever their customers do with their hacking tools, it's not their responsibility,” he said in an instant message. “Today's ruling makes it clear that NSO Group is in fact responsible for breaking numerous laws.”

WhatsApp in 2019 sued NSO seeking an injunction and damages, accusing it of accessing WhatsApp servers without permission six months earlier to install the Pegasus software on victims' mobile devices. The lawsuit alleged the intrusion allowed the surveillance of 1,400 people, including journalists, human rights activists and dissidents.

NSO had argued that Pegasus helps law enforcement and intelligence agencies fight crime and protect national security and that its technology is intended to help catch terrorists, pedophiles and hardened criminals.

NSO appealed a trial judge's 2020 refusal to award it "conduct-based immunity," a common law doctrine protecting foreign officials acting in their official capacity.

Upholding that ruling in 2021, the San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals called it an "easy case" because NSO's mere licensing of Pegasus and offering technical support did not shield it from liability under a federal law called the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which took precedence over common law.

The US Supreme Court last year turned away NSO's appeal of the lower court's decision, allowing the lawsuit to proceed.