// THE VERGE — CYBERSECURITY
An Israeli firm is sending spyware through online ads, researchers say
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It’s the first time researchers found evidence of a zero-click attack delivered through targeted advertising.
It’s the first time researchers found evidence of a zero-click attack delivered through targeted advertising.
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An Israeli ad tech firm worked with spyware companies to infect devices, including at Al Jazeera, by simply showing users an online ad, according to a joint investigation by security researchers at Citizen Lab and Confiant. It’s the first time researchers have found technical evidence of a zero-click attack — a form of hacking that requires no action by users — delivered through targeted advertising, as reported earlier by NBC News.
The ad firm, called Discover-Tech, presents itself as a typical online advertising agency, but researchers say it actually provides a pipeline for hacking groups to plant malicious ads across the web. It operates a platform known as “Controlium” that 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,” according to the investigation. It also allows them to “select a user for infection or profiling” using their IP address, mobile ad ID, or browser identifier.
One of the groups Discover-Tech works with is Candiru, an Israeli spyware company that has been blacklisted by the US government. In 2024 and 2025, Discover-Tech ads delivered Candiru-linked spyware to Al Jazeera, a Qatar-based news network. Researchers say the companies targeted “at least” 45 devices at the news outlet in 2024 and 2025.