Israeli ad-tech firm helped install spyware on Al Jazeera devices
Citizen Lab says Israeli advertising technology company Discover-Tech helped deliver Candiru spyware to dozens of devices used by Al Jazeera and other organisations. Investigators concluded that Discover-Tech bought targeted online advertisements containing code that redirected selected devices to Candiru’s malware. The technique required no click: merely displaying an infected advert could compromise a device and expose the data available on it.
Al Jazeera’s technology team noticed unusual activity on journalists’ devices in 2024, with the pattern continuing into 2025, and asked the University of Toronto-based Citizen Lab to investigate. Network logs provided by the broadcaster showed a clear timeline of the attack, which reached journalists covering sensitive subjects. Although the advertisements were directed to millions of devices, the investigation confirmed infections on dozens.
New York security firm Confiant separately reported that some Discover-Tech advertisements appeared in critical networks used by the Pentagon, the International Atomic Energy Agency and the International Criminal Court. Candiru, whose spyware has previously targeted at least 100 journalists, dissidents and others across several countries, has been blacklisted by the United States since 2021. Al Jazeera condemned the operation as an attack on press freedom and called for those responsible to be held accountable.
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