Technical Discovery of Wide-Scale Spy Campaign
Two specialized digital security firms revealed on Thursday that the Israeli company "Discovery-Tech" exploited a wide commercial advertising network to collect personal data and deliver paid spyware to targeted devices worldwide. This was detailed in two simultaneous reports issued by the Canadian "Citizen Lab" and New York-based ad security company "Confiant," which confirmed the exploitation of advertising infrastructure for advanced pre-positioning and precise targeting.
Advanced Technologies and Secret Data Collection
The investigation indicated that the operation enabled the Israeli spy company "Candiru" and the surveillance firm "Intellias" to exploit ad spaces across major platforms such as "Google," "Index Exchange," and the Russian "Yandex." "Citizen Lab" described the campaign as the first technical confirmation of delivering "zero-click" spyware via the internet, while "Discovery-Tech" operated under the "Controlium" system, distributing ads across approximately 200,000 websites and applications over four months, collecting cookies and login tokens.
Targeting Palestine and International Institutions
According to the data, Palestine emerged as the most targeted region, with the company providing about 2 percent of digital ads there, peaking at 10 percent on April 7. Surveillance activity also reached sensitive networks, including the office of the Prime Minister of Armenia and international bodies, with precise referrals to "Candiru" servers in nine countries, where Belgium accounted for 56 percent of the observed activity.
Decisive Measures by Major Platforms
Following the disclosure of the joint investigation, "Google," the European Interactive Advertising Association "IAB Europe," and companies "Index Exchange," "Vungle," and "Smaato" cut off "Discovery-Tech"'s access to their digital advertising systems. This action comes amid warnings about the company's ability to match digital ad identities with real phone numbers, enabling the widespread identification of mobile service subscribers.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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