Israeli Firms Use Malicious Ads to Spy on Al Jazeera
Israeli companies Candiru and Discover Tech installed surveillance software on 45 Al Jazeera computers using manipulated online advertisements, according to a Citizen Lab report.
Two Tel Aviv-based companies, Candiru and Discover Tech, used manipulated online advertisements to install surveillance software on 45 computers at the Qatari news organization Al Jazeera. A report published Thursday by Citizen Lab, a digital watchdog group at the University of Toronto, detailed how the firms utilized advertising platforms throughout 2024 and 2025 to deliver malicious code.
The implanted spyware allowed the operators to collect data from the infected devices. Candiru is identified as a firm that assists governments in hacking mobile phones, while Discover Tech operates as an ad-tech company. The operation targeted Al Jazeera's infrastructure in Qatar using the firms' base of operations in Tel Aviv.
