Research conducted by Citizen Lab and Confiant indicates that the Israeli digital advertising agency Discover-Tech operated a surveillance network targeting internet users. By embedding malicious code within standard online advertisements for consumer goods, the firm reportedly tracked individuals across over 120,000 websites and 75,000 mobile applications. These advertising channels were utilized to provide surveillance entities, including the US-blacklisted spyware developer Candiru, with unauthorized access to platforms managed by major tech corporations like Google, Comcast, and Yandex. The operation allowed for the identification of users and, in certain instances, the extraction of sensitive data such as mobile phone numbers from personal devices. This discovery highlights significant vulnerabilities within the digital advertising ecosystem that can be exploited for large-scale tracking and device compromise.
Source : The National
Photo : The National
