# Israeli firm used online ads to run vast spy operation, researchers say

**URL:** https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/israeli-firm-used-online-ads-to-run-vast-spy-operation-researchers-say/41467
**Category:** News
**Tags:** article
**Created:** 2026-10-15T14:12:20Z
**Posts:** 3

## Post 1 by @privacy.slouchy — 2026-10-15T14:12:20Z

[https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/israeli-firm-used-online-ads-run-vast-spy-operation-researchers-say-2026-10-15/](https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/israeli-firm-used-online-ads-run-vast-spy-operation-researchers-say-2026-10-15/)

Found an interesting report detailing a large-scale state-sponsored surveillance campaign. Friendly reminder that online ads are more than a nuisance, they represent a serious privsec risk

> Israeli digital advertising agency Discover-Tech spied on internet users through a sprawling network of online ads that it used to ​track targets and help hack their devices… and that data-sharing arrangements — called cookie matching — allowed it to track people even beyond the reach of its advertisements

> Citizen Lab said ​a powerful form of Candiru spyware delivered through Discover-Tech’s ads had been used to compromise 45 Windows devices at the Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera…

> …the malicious ads had been shown to users in “hundreds of networks in sensitive categories,” including the Pentagon, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the International Criminal Court… the United Nations, NATO, the European ⁠Commission, and more than a dozen other national governments. Other networks the ads appeared in included chip-related firms such as Nvidia, Sandisk, Broadcom, and Micron, as well as several media organizations in Mexico, Israel, and Europe…

> The reports show how the online advertising business, long a subject of privacy concerns, can also serve as a channel for sweeping espionage campaigns

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## Post 2 by @privacy.slouchy — 2026-10-15T14:16:12Z

I guarantee Israel is not the only state conducting campaigns of this nature. Stay vigilant PG

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## Post 3 by @frantic1018 — 2026-10-15T18:24:28Z

Cyberwarfare is the second cheapest form of warfare, right behind straight bribes. {Source: Trust me bro)