Israeli Ad Firm Accused of Spying on Hundreds of Millions of Users

An Israeli digital advertising company, Discover-Tech, allegedly spied on internet users worldwide through an extensive network of online ads, which it used to monitor targets and breach devices, according to two research organizations. Reports from Canada's Citizen Lab and New York-based security firm Confiant found that Discover-Tech's services provided the Israeli offensive cyber firm Candiru, which is sanctioned by the U.S. government, and other Israeli spyware companies, access to advertising platforms managed by Google, Comcast, Yandex, and others. "The way online advertising works today is a systemic security threat," stated Wolfie Crystal, a senior researcher at Citizen Lab. Discover-Tech's ads, often for everyday items like phones or headphones, appeared on over 120,000 websites and 75,000 apps through various partnerships. Users visiting these sites or using these apps were monitored, and Discover-Tech sometimes attempted to extract phone numbers from smartphone users, the reports indicated. The spying began as soon as the ads were loaded onto a site. Some ads were used to help install Candiru spyware on user devices, though Confiant found these Candiru-related ads were a small fraction of Discover-Tech's total activity. Confiant founder Jerome Dangu stated that Discover-Tech served at least 10 million ads daily globally, and data-sharing agreements allowed the company to track individuals beyond the reach of the ads themselves. "Hundreds of millions of people were likely affected by Discover-Tech," Dangu declared. Discover-Tech, founded in 2020, did not respond to requests for comment. Citizen Lab reported that a potent version of Candiru spyware, distributed via Discover-Tech's ads, was used to breach 45 Windows computers at Qatar's Al Jazeera network in 2024-2025, a finding corroborated by the media group's network logs. Dangu added that malicious ads were shown to users across "hundreds of networks in sensitive categories," including the Pentagon, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the International Criminal Court. He noted particularly extensive exposure in areas like the Palestinian territories. Citizen Lab also has evidence of malicious ads being shown to individuals in the U.S., NATO, and EU countries. Other networks where the ads appeared include Nvidia, SanDisk, Broadcom, and Micron, as well as unidentified telecom networks in Mexico, Israel, and Europe. Google stated it cooperated with the investigations and removed Discover-Tech's ads from its platforms due to repeated policy violations.