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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteShort answer: Citizen Lab says an Israel-based advertising operation exposed millions of devices to reconnaissance linked to mercenary spyware, but it has not established that millions of phones were infected. The investigation found high-confidence evidence that at least 45 devices used inside Al Jazeera were targeted in 2024 and 2025 with Candiru spyware, now publicly rebranded as Integrity Labs.
The technique, which Citizen Lab calls AdFection, turns an ordinary online ad impression into a possible zero-click exploit. A selected target may be compromised when the ad renders, without tapping it, downloading a file or opening an attachment.
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What Citizen Lab found on 15 October 2026
Citizen Lab’s Report 195, “Exposing AdFection,” describes Discover-Tech as an Israel-based company that presents itself as an advertising business while connecting the real-time advertising market to mercenary spyware vendors. Its analysis covered almost 200,000 unique websites and Android and iOS apps in dozens of countries during a four-month period.
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- At least 45 Al Jazeera devices were targeted in 2024 and 2025. Citizen Lab attributes the operation to Candiru with high confidence.
- Millions of devices were likely profiled as preliminary reconnaissance after their information reached infrastructure associated with the operation.
- Most people were not selected for exploitation. The report does not provide a worldwide total of confirmed infections.
Citizen Lab calls this “the first-ever public confirmation of zero-click mercenary spyware delivered via targeted ads.” Its executive summary says the ecosystem is being used “at a massive scale to profile millions of users, then silently infect targets with zero-click mercenary spyware.” Those statements describe two different stages: broad collection and selective compromise.
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How AdFection can work without a click
- An ad auction occurs. Discover-Tech wins a normal real-time advertising bid for space in a website or app.
- The ad renders. When the page or app loads the advertisement, the operation can collect device and network information. The user does not have to tap the ad.
- The system sorts potential targets. Most impressions appear to be used for profiling or reconnaissance rather than exploitation.
- A selected impression receives malicious code. For a target that meets the operator’s criteria, the ad can return JavaScript designed to exploit a browser or app.
- A zero-click infection may follow. If the exploit succeeds, spyware can be installed without a download prompt, attachment or other deliberate action.
An ad impression alone cannot show that a person was selected or infected. Confirmation requires forensic examination of the device, network evidence or both.
What “millions of phones” does—and does not—mean
The “millions” figure refers to devices that were likely observed and profiled during reconnaissance. Profiling can include information about a device and its network that helps an operator decide whether a person is worth targeting. It is not an infection count.
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Citizen Lab also found Discover-Tech advertising on networks associated with defense ministries, armed forces, national cyber agencies, NATO, intergovernmental bodies, critical infrastructure and media organizations. Those impressions demonstrate that sensitive networks were exposed to the pipeline. They do not, by themselves, prove that those networks or their phones were compromised.
Why the investigation links the Al Jazeera attacks to Candiru
Citizen Lab combined several technical indicators rather than treating an ad appearance as proof. Its attribution is based on the timing of network logs, Discover-Tech infrastructure, a recovered Windows DLL, matching command-and-control servers and code similarities to Candiru’s earlier attack chain. The report rates the Candiru connection as high confidence.
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Candiru is also known as Saito Tech and has publicly rebranded as Integrity Labs. Earlier Citizen Lab work identified more than 750 websites connected to Candiru infrastructure and documented Microsoft-observed victims in Palestine, Israel, Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, Spain, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Armenia and Singapore.
Were Al Jazeera journalists targeted?
Yes. The current investigation identifies at least 45 Al Jazeera devices targeted during 2024 and 2025. That is a device count, not necessarily a count of individual journalists, and it is far smaller than the number of devices profiled during reconnaissance.
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This is not the first spyware campaign involving the network. Citizen Lab previously documented 36 Al Jazeera phones hacked with Pegasus in 2020. Pegasus is made by Israel-based NSO Group, while Candiru/Integrity Labs is a separate Israeli mercenary-spyware vendor.
AdFection compared with Pegasus and earlier Candiru activity
| Case | Delivery path | Interaction required | Evidence described | Scale denominator | Geography or victims |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AdFection, 2024–2025 | Targeted online advertisements in websites and apps | Zero-click for a selected target | Network-log timing, Discover-Tech infrastructure, a recovered Windows DLL, command-and-control matches and code similarities | Millions likely profiled; at least 45 Al Jazeera devices targeted; no worldwide confirmed-infection total | Dozens of countries; Al Jazeera devices |
| Pegasus Project, historical reporting | Message or app-based exploit campaigns | Varied by exploit; a leaked selection list is not an infection record | About 50,000 phone numbers selected as potential targets, with forensic confirmation on particular phones | About 50,000 potential targets, not 50,000 infections | Global investigation involving more than 80 journalists from 17 media organizations |
| Earlier Candiru activity | Web infrastructure and exploit chains | Varied by campaign | More than 750 linked websites and Microsoft-observed victim activity | Victim count not stated in the cited findings | Palestine, Israel, Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, Spain, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Armenia and Singapore |
Does seeing a suspicious ad mean a phone is infected?
No. An impression can indicate that a device was reachable by the advertising infrastructure, but it cannot establish selection, exploitation or successful spyware installation. Citizen Lab’s findings require technical evidence to move from exposure to attribution and infection.
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Likewise, an impression on a government, military or media network is a warning about systemic exposure, not proof that every device on that network was hacked. The report does not claim that every ad was malicious or that every person who saw one became a target.
What people at elevated risk should do
- Keep the phone’s operating system, browser and major apps on their latest security releases.
- If you may be a journalist, activist, diplomat or official targeted by spyware, contact an independent digital-rights organization or specialist mobile-forensics provider. Preserve the phone and relevant network records rather than resetting it before advice is obtained.
- Do not treat an ordinary antivirus app or ad blocker as a proven defense against the zero-click techniques described here; the cited investigation does not establish that they can detect or stop them.
- A Faraday pouch or other signal-blocking case can reduce wireless communication while the phone is inside it, but the findings do not establish that such a product prevents Pegasus, Candiru or ad-delivered zero-click exploits.
What remains unknown
Citizen Lab has not published a global number of confirmed infections caused by AdFection. It also has not said that every device in the millions-wide profiling estimate was a phone, that every impression reached a target, or that every targeted exploit succeeded. The strongest supported conclusion is narrower and more consequential: commercial advertising infrastructure can be used to identify large populations and silently deliver mercenary spyware to a much smaller set of selected devices.
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