Rights10/15/2026

Discover-Tech Accused of Using Online Advertising for Surveillance

Citizen Lab and Confiant allege that Israeli advertising company Discover-Tech used digital advertising to collect user data and help distribute spyware. Google, Comcast’s Beeswax advertising platform, and IAB Europe announced that they had blocked the company or suspended their activities with it.

Key facts

•Globes publication: October 15, 2026
•Discover-Tech was founded in 2020
•It is alleged that 45 Al Jazeera computers were breached
•Exposure: more than 120,000 websites and approximately 75,000 apps
•At least 10 million advertisements per day—Confiant’s estimate
•No judgment or case number is specified in the source

Nature of the Allegations

According to reports published in coordination by Citizen Lab and the U.S. company Confiant, Discover-Tech, founded in 2020, provided Israeli offensive cyber companies with access to the advertising systems of Google, Comcast, Yandex, and other operators. The researchers allege that merely displaying an advertisement could enable a user to be identified and information about their online activity to be collected—without any click or other action by the user. Discover-Tech and its CEO, Dekel Boni, did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

Breach of Al Jazeera Computers

Citizen Lab linked Discover-Tech’s advertising infrastructure to the distribution of spyware made by the Israeli company Candiru. According to the researchers, it was used to breach 45 Al Jazeera Windows computers in 2024–2025; the examination was based on network data provided by the television channel. However, the researchers did not determine who commissioned the attacks or what their purpose was, and Al Jazeera did not respond to Reuters.

Potential Scale of Surveillance

According to Citizen Lab, Discover-Tech’s advertisements appeared on more than 120,000 websites and approximately 75,000 apps. Confiant co-founder Jerome Dangu said the company distributed at least 10 million advertisements per day and that hundreds of millions of people may have been affected. This is an estimate of potential exposure, not a verified number of breached devices.

Advertising Platforms’ Response

Google announced that it had removed Discover-Tech from its advertising platforms due to systematic violations of its rules. Comcast-owned platform Beeswax also cut ties with the company, and IAB Europe suspended its participation in the approved vendor list following a review. The source does not report a judgment, an opened case, or an officially established violation of Israeli law: these are researchers’ allegations and actions taken by private platforms.

What this means for you

For ordinary users, this illustrates that risks may arise as soon as an advertisement loads on a website or in an app, even without clicking the advertisement. However, the appearance of such an advertisement on a device or network does not by itself prove a breach or data theft. The allegations are not presented in the source as a conclusion by a court or government regulator.

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