Saudi activist Loujain Alhathloul is suing Emirati cybersecurity firm DarkMatter Group and three former executives in Oregon federal court, alleging they hacked her iPhone for the United Arab Emirates. In August 2025, the court held that it has jurisdiction and let her Computer Fraud and Abuse Act claims, including conspiracy, go forward. The defendants answered in October 2025, and the case is in discovery.
Latest development Oct 1, 2025
On October 1, 2025, DarkMatter Group, Marc Baier, Ryan Adams, and Daniel Gericke each answered Alhathloul’s amended complaint. They denied liability and reasserted their personal jurisdiction defenses. The case is in discovery.
Why it matters
Her counsel, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, calls it the first suit to proceed in federal court by a victim of a foreign government’s human rights abuses enabled by U.S. spyware. The case tests whether U.S. anti-hacking law reaches former U.S. operatives working for a foreign state.
Background
In September 2021, Marc Baier, Ryan Adams, and Daniel Gericke entered a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice and agreed to pay $1.68M. The agreement resolved criminal charges arising from hacking-related services they provided for the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The three men are former U.S. intelligence or military personnel and former executives of DarkMatter Group, an Emirati cybersecurity company. On December 9, 2021, Saudi women’s rights activist Loujain Alhathloul sued DarkMatter and the three men in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon.
The complaint alleges that the defendants hacked her iPhone starting in 2017 as part of a UAE surveillance program known as Project Raven. She alleges that the data they took led to her arrest by UAE security services in Abu Dhabi, her transfer to Saudi Arabia, and her imprisonment there. Judge Karin J. Immergut dismissed the original complaint for lack of personal jurisdiction in March 2023, with leave to amend. Alhathloul filed an amended complaint in May 2023. The court allowed limited jurisdictional discovery in February 2024.
In April 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decided Briskin v. Shopify en banc. That ruling reshaped the jurisdiction test for cases about data taken from a plaintiff’s device. The district court asked for briefing on its effect. On August 12, 2025, the court held that it has jurisdiction over the defendants. It let the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act claim and the claim of conspiracy to violate that statute go forward, but dismissed the Alien Tort Statute claim against the three men.
On August 18, 2025, the defendants asked the court to certify the jurisdictional ruling for immediate appeal to the Ninth Circuit. On October 1, 2025, each defendant answered the amended complaint, denying liability and reasserting its personal jurisdiction defenses. The case is now in discovery.
Timeline 8 events
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FilingDefendants answer first amended complaint
DarkMatter Group, Marc Baier, Ryan Adams, and Daniel Gericke each filed answers denying liability and reasserting their personal jurisdiction defenses.
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OrderDefendants move to certify interlocutory appeal
After the court found personal jurisdiction and let hacking claims proceed, defendants asked the court to certify the jurisdictional ruling for immediate appeal to the Ninth Circuit.
AlHathloul v. DarkMatter - Defendants' Joint Motion for Certification of Interlocutory Appeal
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JudgmentCourt lets hacking claims proceed and dismisses Alien Tort Statute claim
Judge Immergut ruled on the defendants’ second motion to dismiss, finding a prima facie case of personal jurisdiction. The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and conspiracy claims went forward.
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OrderCourt allows jurisdictional discovery
The court granted Alhathloul’s motion for limited discovery on whether it has personal jurisdiction over the defendants.
EFF: Opinion and Order Granting Motion for Jurisdictional Discovery
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FilingAlhathloul files first amended complaint
After the court dismissed her original complaint for lack of jurisdiction, Alhathloul filed an amended complaint with additional jurisdictional allegations.
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JudgmentCourt dismisses complaint for lack of jurisdiction, allowing amendment
Judge Immergut found that the original complaint did not show the defendants had aimed their conduct at the United States, and gave leave to amend.
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FilingAlhathloul sues DarkMatter and three former executives in Oregon
Represented by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Alhathloul alleged that the defendants hacked her iPhone for the United Arab Emirates in violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and international law.
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OtherThree former operatives enter deferred prosecution agreement over Emirati hacking work
The Justice Department announced that Baier, Adams, and Gericke had entered a deferred prosecution agreement and would pay $1.68M in total.
Experimental AI forecast
How it is madeBy March 31, 2029, how will Alhathloul’s Oregon suit against DarkMatter and the three former operatives stand?
- Alhathloul settles or drops the suit32%
- Still pending on March 31, 202930%
- DarkMatter and operatives win dismissal23%
- Alhathloul wins a liability ruling15%
- Resolves by
- Mar 31, 2029in 29 months
- Record confidence
- Low
Settlement or voluntary dismissal is the most likely result by March 31, 2029, at 32%, narrowly ahead of the case still being open. The claims survived jurisdictional challenges in August 2025 and moved into discovery, which pushes most federal cases toward settlement or summary judgment within a few years.
How it resolves. Resolve from the District of Oregon docket and any Ninth Circuit rulings. “Settles” if all remaining claims are dismissed by stipulation, settlement, or voluntary dismissal. “Defendants win” if the court enters final judgment for all remaining defendants by dismissal, including on jurisdiction after appeal, summary judgment, or defense verdict. “Alhathloul wins” if she obtains a liability verdict, liability summary judgment, or default judgment against at least one defendant. If defendants exit by different routes, classify by how the last remaining claims end. Otherwise “Still pending.”
Reasoning
Starting point. U.S. federal civil suits that survive motions to dismiss and enter merits discovery: Roughly 1% of federal civil cases reach trial. Most cases past the pleadings settle or end on summary judgment, typically two to four years after discovery opens.
Federal civil cases that survive dismissal mostly settle or end on summary judgment, and very few reach trial. This case entered merits discovery in October 2025, so dispositive motions plausibly fall in 2027 or 2028. Cross-border discovery involving an Emirati company and classified-adjacent conduct will likely slow the schedule, which keeps “still pending” close to the top at 30%. The individual defendants face personal exposure and already paid $1.68 million under their deferred prosecution agreement, which gives them a reason to settle. Alhathloul’s counsel seek public accountability, which may weigh against a quiet early deal. The defendants’ preserved jurisdiction defense and the August 2025 request for interlocutory appeal give them a credible path to dismissal on appeal or a defense ruling at summary judgment. A liability win for Alhathloul requires proving the hacking and linking it to her, which is harder, so that outcome sits at 15%. The record is 12.5 months stale and does not show how the court ruled on the certification motion.
Jurisdiction upheld under Briskin, but defendants preserved the defense · Pace of cross-border discovery involving an Emirati company · Individual defendants’ personal exposure and settlement incentives · Unknown ruling on the August 2025 certification motion · Plaintiff’s accountability goals may resist a quiet settlement
Generated automatically by Claude Opus 5.5 on Oct 18, 2026 from this case’s record on this site, and published without editorial review. The probabilities are the model’s judgment, not measured frequencies, and they are scored publicly as cases resolve. Not legal or investment advice. How the forecasts are made