Israeli spyware targeted 'hundreds of millions' through zero-click ads, researchers find

Israeli digital advertising agency Discover-Tech spied on internet users through a vast network of online ads that helped track targets and facilitate the hacking of their devices. The firm's services enabled Israeli spyware company Candiru, blacklisted by the US government, and other Israeli surveillance firms to gain access to advertising platforms run by major companies such as Google, Comcast, and Yandex.

According to research from the Canadian cyber watchdog group Citizen Lab and New York advertising security firm Confiant, online advertising, while posing privacy concerns, also serves as a channel for large-scale espionage campaigns. Discover-Tech's online ads, often for everyday products like phones and earpods, reached over 120,000 websites and 75,000 apps through various partnerships.

These ads could identify and track users who visited websites or used apps with malicious ads, and in some cases, attempt to extract phone numbers from certain smartphone users. The ads only needed to load on a site for the spying to occur. Confiant cofounder Jerome Dangu stated that Discover-Tech was sending at least 10 million ads per day worldwide, with data-sharing arrangements allowing the firm to track people beyond the reach of its advertisements.

Research groups suspect that hundreds of millions of people may have been affected. Discover-Tech, founded in 2020, did not respond to inquiries, and attempts to contact Candiru's owners were unsuccessful.