Citizen Lab says at least 45 devices belonging to Al Jazeera journalists were compromised in 2024 and 2025 through spyware delivered by online ads. The researchers described the campaign as the first confirmed case of zero-click mercenary spyware delivered through online advertising and called it “AdFection.”
The Canadian cybersecurity research group said it identified two Israeli companies in the infection chain: Candiru, now known as Integrity Labs, and Discover-Tech. Researchers say Candiru built the spyware and delivery system. They did not identify who bought the tool or who conducted the surveillance, and said it cost “several million dollars.”
Discover-Tech operates MyDSP, a platform that buys digital advertising space through automated ad exchanges. Citizen Lab said ads linked to the campaign appeared to be served through the company’s infrastructure. Its researchers described Discover-Tech as appearing to be a front for large-scale abuse of advertising systems.
Citizen Lab analyzed roughly 4 billion ad-bidding records and found Discover-Tech ads on more than 70,000 mobile apps and 120,000 websites in Q2 2026. The Register, citing advertising security firm Confiant, reported that some ads also appeared in networks used by the Pentagon, the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency, and the International Criminal Court. The scale of any impact beyond the 45 Al Jazeera devices remains unclear.
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