Israeli company used online ads to run spy operation against 'hundreds of millions of people'
Israeli digital advertising agency Discover-Tech spied on internet users through a network of online advertisements that it used to track targets and hack their devices, research groups said. Reports from Canadian group Citizen Lab and US advertising security company Confiant found that Discover-Tech's services gave Candiru, an Israeli spyware company blacklisted by the US government, as well as…
Israeli digital advertising agency Discover-Tech engaged in a massive surveillance operation, utilizing online advertisements to track and potentially compromise the devices of hundreds of millions of internet users worldwide. According to reports from Citizen Lab and Confiant, Discover-Tech's services enabled Israeli spyware company Candiru to gain access to advertising platforms operated by major companies such as Google, Comcast, and Yandex.
The agency's online ads, often promoting everyday items like phones and earbuds, reached over 120,000 websites and 75,000 apps through various partnerships. When users visited sites or apps with these malicious ads, Discover-Tech could identify and track them, sometimes attempting to extract phone numbers from smartphones. The ads merely needed to load on a website for the spying to begin.
Confiant stated that Discover-Tech issued at least 10 million ads daily globally, using cookie matching to track individuals beyond the reach of individual ads. The research groups discovered that a potent Candiru spyware delivered via Discover-Tech's ads had infected 45 Windows devices at Qatar's Al Jazeera between 2024 and 2025.
Al Jazeera condemned the attacks and claimed it was taking measures to safeguard its staff and systems. The malicious ads were shown to users in hundreds of networks, including sensitive categories such as the Pentagon, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the International Criminal Court, as well as regions like the Palestinian territories.
Citizen Lab found evidence of the ads reaching the UN, NATO, the European Commission, and over a dozen national governments, as well as tech companies like Nvidia and Sandisk, and media organizations in Mexico, Israel, and Europe. Google removed Discover-Tech from its ad platforms after the investigation, citing violations of their policies.
The European-level association IAB Europe also suspended Discover-Tech from its list of approved entities following a policy breach audit.
Written by urgent.news from The National UAE's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
