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

An investigation by Citizen Lab revealed that Israeli ad-tech firm Discover-Tech helped place spyware from Candiru on dozens of devices belonging to Al Jazeera and other organizations. The spyware, identified as a “zero-click” attack, was embedded within advertisements served by Discover-Tech, compromising the security of targeted journalists and officials since 2024. Al Jazeera condemned the actions, emphasizing their impact on press freedom and demanding accountability for those involved in the cyberattacks.

Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-15, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

Story summary

An Israeli ad company, DiscoverTech, has been secretly helping spyware developers place their hacking software on popular websites for years, according to a report by the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto. The cyberattack targeted at least 45 devices used by news outlet Al Jazeera, including those belonging to journalists reporting sensitive stories. Spyware from Candiru, an Israeli spyware firm blacklisted by the U.S. government in 2021, was found on these devices. DiscoverTech purchased advertisements with built-in malware that directed devices to Candiru’s malicious software. The report marks the first time cybersecurity experts have demonstrated how online ad platforms can be exploited as a vector for hacking without users' knowledge, highlighting the need for stronger security measures and ad-blocking tools.

Written for “Israeli Firm Helped Target Al Jazeera” on 2026-10-15, grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.

Why this leaning score

The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted verbatim and was checked against the article text before being stored, so you can find it in the original.

Spyware from Candiru, an Israeli spyware firm blacklisted by the United States government in 2021 for its malicious cyber activities, was planted on these devices

left describes state-sponsored espionage as 'malicious'
Al Jazeera’s in-house technology team first discovered unusual patterns on devices used by some journalists in 2024. The pattern continued into 2025.

left emphasizes the ongoing nature of surveillance targeting journalists

Reading Leans left (beta estimate) Confidence high 1 quote(s) discarded as not found in the article

Leaning: leans left for article 82785 (high confidence, 2 verified quotes) · logged 2026-10-15

📰 Israeli Firm Helped Target Al Jazeera

Politics · 2 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

This article reads leans left and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.

Israeli ad company helped a spyware firm target Al Jazeera through online ads, researchers say same event · 100%

NBC News · 0.87 cosine similarity

⚖️ Leans left 🔴 5% hedged 2 of 39 📰 publisher trust 95

“Both articles describe the same incident involving an Israeli ad company, DiscoverTech, secretly helping spyware developers target Al Jazeera's devices through online ads, as reported by Citizen Lab.”

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability

Source leaning vs. consistency

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Running correction rate · 2 correction(s)

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Israeli advertising technology company Discover-Tech helped place spyware on dozens of devices used by Al Jazeera and other companies, a Citizen Lab investigation prompted by Al Jazeera’s initial internal probe has confirmed. asserted

investigation → place → probe

Al Jazeera Media Network on Thursday said it “condemns the targeting of devices belonging to several of its employees with spyware” and pledged to continue to “protect its employees and systems”. asserted

it → say → employees

The network said targeting journalists is an “assault on press freedom and the public’s right to knowledge” and called for those responsible to be held accountable. asserted

those → say → knowledge

Spyware from Candiru, an Israeli spyware firm blacklisted by the United States government in 2021 for its malicious cyber activities, was planted on these devices, using what Citizen Lab described as the first-known instance of “zero-click” targeted advertising. asserted

Lab → blacklist → advertising

The Citizen Lab, a research unit at the University of Toronto, concluded in its report that Discover-Tech purchased the advertisements with built-in spyware. asserted

Tech → conclude → spyware

It then directed devices to Candiru’s malware through these advertisements. asserted

It → direct → advertisements

The millions of targeted devices include those belonging to Al Jazeera’s journalists – including several who reported on sensitive subjects. asserted

who → target → subjects

Al Jazeera’s in-house technology team first discovered unusual patterns on devices used by some journalists in 2024. asserted

team → discover → 2024

The pattern continued into 2025. asserted

pattern → continue → 2025

Al Jazeera reached out to Citizen Lab for a more detailed investigation into its suspicions that spyware was responsible for the activity. asserted

spyware → reach → activity

“Analysis of network logs provided to the Citizen Lab by Al Jazeera collected during the attack period provides a clear temporal signature of how the attack was executed,” the University of Toronto-based team said in its report published Thursday. asserted

team → provide → report

Al Jazeera said that the cooperation “contributed to verifying these attacks and publicly documenting them”. asserted

cooperation → say → them

The “zero-click” nature of installing this spyware means that once an infected advertisement appears on a device, that device, too, is infected — spying on, and feeding, all the data and information available on that platform to those stealing it. asserted

device → instal → it

Meanwhile, New York-based advertising security firm Confiant said in a separate report that some of Discover-Tech’s advertisements also appeared in critical networks used by the Pentagon, the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency and the International Criminal Court. asserted

some → base → Pentagon

Candiru’s spyware has previously been used to carry out surveillance on at least 100 journalists, dissidents and others in several countries. asserted

spyware → use → countries

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

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