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Millions of phones exposed to Israeli spyware operation through online ads, researchers say

Politico.Eu • October 15, 2026

Researchers discovered critical details of the hacking tools by analyzing devices belonging to journalists and staff at the Al Jazeera media network, finding that 45 devices of journalists and staff were targeted and some infected with Israeli-made spyware known as Candiru.

Discover-Tech and Integrity Labs did not immediately respond to a request for .

The scale is striking: An analysis of four billion advertising records found that Discover-Tech's ads appeared across nearly 200,000 websites and mobile apps in dozens of countries over four months. Among the websites that featured the ads were institutional sites of NATO, the United Nations, the European Parliament, European Commission and Council of the EU.

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This article is one source in a clustered incident — the cluster page carries the summary, timeline and every other outlet covering it.

Zero-Click Spyware Delivered via Targeted Ads: Citizen Lab Report On October 15, 2026, Citizen Lab revealed that the Israeli advertising firm Discover-Tech has been using targeted online ads to deliver zero-click spyware, dubbed 'AdFection', to devices without user interaction. This technique has reportedly infected at least 45 devices belonging to journalists at Al Jazeera between 2024 and 2025. The spyware, attributed to the Israeli company Candiru, operates by executing malicious code when an ad is displayed, allowing for covert surveillance. Discover-Tech's ads reached over 120,000 websites and 75,000 apps, potentially impacting hundreds of millions of users globally. Following the report, major platforms like Google and IAB Europe severed ties with Discover-Tech due to its systematic violations of advertising policies. The findings raise significant concerns about the security of the online advertising ecosystem and its exploitation for espionage purposes. 51 sources 78

Extracted Entities

Millions of phones exposed to Israeli spyware operation through online ads, researchers say

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Extracted Entities

APT Groups (1)

Attack Types (1)

Companies (1)