Researchers Say Israeli Ad Firm Discover-Tech Delivered Spyware Through Online Ads
Citizen Lab and Confiant say Discover-Tech worked with spyware companies to deliver zero-click attacks through targeted ads, including Candiru-linked spyware that hit at least 45 Al Jazeera devices in 2024 and 2025. Google, Beeswax and IAB Europe have taken action.
Discover-Tech presents itself as a typical online advertising agency, but researchers say it provides a pipeline for hacking groups to plant malicious ads across the web, The Verge reported. The company operates a platform called Controlium, which the investigation says allows its spyware partners to precisely profile and de-anonymize millions of individuals, fingerprint their devices, and target them with a form of zero-click hacking. The platform also lets partners select a user for infection or profiling using an IP address, mobile ad ID, or browser identifier, according to the researchers.
One of the groups working with Discover-Tech is Candiru, an Israeli spyware company that has been blacklisted by the U.S. government. In 2024 and 2025, Discover-Tech ads delivered Candiru-linked spyware to Al Jazeera, a Qatar-based news network, the researchers found. They say the companies targeted at least 45 devices at the news outlet during those two years.
Citizen Lab and Confiant called on the advertising industry to increase security on its platforms, according to the investigation. Google and Beeswax, an advertising company owned by Comcast, have since removed Discover-Tech from their platforms, Reuters reported. IAB Europe also suspended the company from its list of approved vendors, Reuters said.
The researchers recommended that users at high risk of being targeted use ad blockers, disable ad tracking, and regularly reset their mobile ad IDs.