Germany's BMW, India's Tata Tech to Jointly Develop Auto Software

A BMW iX xDrive40 is on display during the Munich Auto Show, IAA Mobility 2021, in Munich, Germany, September 7, 2021. REUTERS/Michaela Rehl
A BMW iX xDrive40 is on display during the Munich Auto Show, IAA Mobility 2021, in Munich, Germany, September 7, 2021. REUTERS/Michaela Rehl
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Germany's BMW, India's Tata Tech to Jointly Develop Auto Software

A BMW iX xDrive40 is on display during the Munich Auto Show, IAA Mobility 2021, in Munich, Germany, September 7, 2021. REUTERS/Michaela Rehl
A BMW iX xDrive40 is on display during the Munich Auto Show, IAA Mobility 2021, in Munich, Germany, September 7, 2021. REUTERS/Michaela Rehl

BMW Group and Tata Technologies will form a joint venture to develop automotive software for the German luxury carmaker, the Indian engineering services company said on Tuesday.
India is a software development hub for global automakers and auto parts makers including Volvo and Magna International, while also witnessing rising investments from companies including Toyota Motor and Mercedes Benz to boost production, Reuters reported.
The BMW-Tata Technologies venture, the first partnership between the two, will develop automotive software for automated driving and the dashboard system among other features, the Tata company said but didn't disclose any financial details of the agreement.
The BMW Group and Tata Technologies will each hold a 50% stake in the newly-formed company, it added.
BMW has a manufacturing plant in the southern Indian city Chennai, and gets its engines in the country from Force Motors , while TVS Motor helps make the German company's motorcycles.
The joint venture will operate in Chennai, Bengaluru, and Pune and will commence operations with 100 employees, Tata Technologies said.
Tata Technologies, a unit of India's top carmaker by revenue Tata Motors, provides engineering and technology services to auto, aero and heavy machinery firms including Honda , Ford and Airbus.
Its shares were up more than 7% after the announcement, before trimming some gains.
The company went public in November last year to become the first Tata Group company to launch an initial public offering in nearly two decades. Its shares have more-than-doubled from its listing price.



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.