Discover-Tech allegedly used online ads to track users and deliver spyware.
Researchers linked its advertising network to spyware infections at Al Jazeera.
Google and other advertising firms removed or suspended Discover-Tech.
An Israeli digital advertising agency, Discover-Tech, has spied on users on internet online through ads, according to a report on Thursday. The company used ads run by Google and other companies to inject malware onto the targeted devices.
Reports published by Citizen Lab and Confiant on Thursday revealed for the first time how hackers can exploit online advertising platforms to infect users’ devices without their knowledge.
These platforms are widely used across the internet, making them a potential route for attacks on unsuspecting visitors.
What Is Discover-Tech?
DiscoverTech, a company based in Tel Aviv, provides online advertising services to businesses, according to the report. The CEO of the company is Dekel Boni. Its website says, “We take pride in providing our clients with a gateway to global fraud-free traffic, connecting your brand with real users,” according to the report.
Like other advertising firms, DiscoverTech helps businesses place ads on websites where potential customers are likely to see them. However, the report alleges that the company also ran a separate operation that helped spyware firms install malicious software on people’s devices without their knowledge.
According to the report, the company’s ads appeared on nearly 200,000 websites and Android and iOS apps, including platforms run by major news outlets, search engines, government agencies, and dating services.
How Did the Company Spy on Users?
Researchers said the Israel-based company could identify and track people who viewed the ads for everyday products, including phones and earbuds. In some cases, it also tried to collect phone numbers from smartphone users. The report said the ads did not need to be clicked for tracking to begin; simply loading a page displaying them could be enough.
Discover-Tech runs Controlium, a platform that allegedly helps spyware companies target people through online ads. According to the report, it allows these firms to collect data on millions of users and identify individuals they want to spy on. They can then deliver ordinary-looking ads containing hidden exploits that can hack vulnerable devices and install spyware without users clicking on them, according to the report.
Discover-Tech’s services helped Candiru, an Israeli spyware company blacklisted by the US government, and other Israeli surveillance firms access advertising platforms operated by Google, Comcast, Russia’s Yandex and other companies.
Candiru was blacklisted by the US administration in 2021, after it was allegedly involved in developing and supplying cyber-surveillance tools used by governments to target civil society members, journalists, dissidents, academics, and government officials worldwide
The Al Jazeera Case
Citizen Lab said spyware developed by Candiru was used to infect 45 Windows devices at Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera between 2024 and 2025. The researchers linked the attacks to ads delivered through Discover-Tech and confirmed the infections after Al Jazeera shared its network logs with them.
Steps Taken Against The Company
Discover-Tech is facing restrictions across parts of the online advertising industry following the investigation. Google said it worked with Citizen Lab and Confiant on the investigation and removed Discover-Tech from its advertising platforms for “systematically violating our policies,” Reuters reported
IAB Europe, which represents the digital marketing and advertising industry, said it suspended Discover-Tech from its list of approved global vendors last week after an audit found policy violations. Beeswax, an advertising technology company owned by Comcast, also removed Discover-Tech from its platform “following recent activity,” Comcast said, according to Reuters.
