Israeli ad-tech firm helped place spyware on Al Jazeera devices

What the report says

Al Jazeera reported that a Citizen Lab investigation found dozens of devices used by its staff were infected with spyware delivered through advertisements linked to Israeli ad-tech company Discover-Tech. The report said the campaign involved Candiru spyware and described it as a rare example of a “zero-click” targeted ad attack, meaning infection could occur without the user taking any action. Citizen Lab said Discover-Tech bought ads that were built to route devices to the malware.

According to Al Jazeera, its internal technology team first noticed unusual activity on some journalists’ devices in 2024, with the pattern continuing into 2025. The network then asked Citizen Lab to examine the suspected intrusion. Al Jazeera said the joint work helped confirm the attacks and publicly document them, and the network condemned what it described as targeting that threatened press freedom and the public’s right to know.

The article said Candiru was blacklisted by the United States government in 2021 for malicious cyber activity. It also noted that a separate report by New York-based security firm Confiant found some Discover-Tech ads in networks used by the Pentagon, the International Atomic Energy Agency and the International Criminal Court. More broadly, the case underscores ongoing concerns about commercial ad systems being used as a delivery channel for surveillance tools, especially against journalists and media organizations.