Citizen Lab says it has confirmed the first publicly documented case of zero-click mercenary spyware spread through targeted online advertising, a method it calls 'AdFection.' The researchers say dozens of Al Jazeera devices were compromised via ads run by Discover-Tech, whose Controlium platform can profile and deanonymize internet users before silently infecting selected targets with no interaction required.
tech.slashdot.org
· 2026-10-15
University of Toronto's Citizen Lab reports that Discover-Tech, an Israeli digital advertising agency, runs a platform called Controlium that profiles and deanonymises internet users through ordinary-looking ads, then enables third-party spyware firms to silently infect selected targets' devices without any click. Researchers say dozens of devices at Al Jazeera were compromised this way, and that millions of users worldwide have been served Discover-Tech ads since 2024, including in Yemen, Brazil, Mexico and Czechia.
theguardian.com
· 2026-10-15
Security researchers say devices at Al Jazeera were infected with Candiru spyware (rebranded 'Integrity Labs') through targeted online ads, a technique they call AdFection. They identify Israeli firm Discover-Tech as the buyer of the malicious ads, running a platform called Controlium that can de-anonymize and infect devices automatically when an ad loads, with analysis of four billion bidding records showing ads served across nearly 200,000 sites and apps.
citizenlab.ca
· 2026-10-15
Researchers at the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab identified a campaign, named 'AdFection,' in which an Israeli-registered ad company allegedly linked to a spyware vendor's servers infected dozens of devices through digital advertising, with no action required from victims. Citizen Lab says this is the first publicly documented technical evidence of spyware being distributed this way.
wired.com
· 2026-10-15
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