By Raphael Satter WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Meta Platforms won a $168 million verdict against the Israeli surveillance firm NSO, the company said Tuesday, capping a six-year arm wrestling match between America's biggest social networking platform and the world's best known spyware company.

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.

In a landmark decision, a U.S. federal jury in California on Tuesday ordered Israeli spyware firm NSO Group to pay nearly $168 million in punitive damages