Israeli Firm Accused of Using Ads for Global Espionage

An Israeli advertising company, Discover-Tech, is at the center of an international espionage scandal, according to a Reuters investigation published Friday. The company allegedly used online advertisements to track users and facilitate the installation of spyware on their devices. Two cyber research groups in Canada and the U.S. found that Discover-Tech's ads appeared on over 120,000 websites and in approximately 75,000 applications, reaching hundreds of millions of potential users worldwide.

The findings indicate that Discover-Tech exploited the advertising systems of tech giants like Google to gather user data, identify individuals, and monitor their online activities. In some instances, the ads were reportedly used to install spyware without requiring users to click on them or perform any action. Researchers claim the company provided access to its advertising systems to the Israeli offensive cyber firm Candiru, which is on the U.S. Commerce Department's entity list.

This infrastructure was allegedly used to install Candiru spyware on 45 computers belonging to Qatar's Al Jazeera news network between 2024 and 2025. Al Jazeera condemned the espionage attack against its employees, stating they are working to protect their systems and calling for those responsible to be held accountable. Discover-Tech's ads were also identified on networks of sensitive organizations, including the Pentagon, the UN, NATO, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the European Commission, though Reuters noted that the mere presence of ads does not necessarily indicate a system breach.

One researcher stated that Discover-Tech's activity was particularly extensive in the West Bank, especially in Palestinian areas. In response to the investigation, Google removed Discover-Tech from its advertising platforms for "systematic violation of company policies." Comcast also blocked the company's activity on its advertising platform, and the European Digital Advertising Alliance suspended Discover-Tech from its list of approved vendors. Reuters reported that attempts to obtain comments from Discover-Tech, its CEO Dekel Boni, and the owners of Candiru were unsuccessful.