Research group, The Citizen Lab, said it found proof that an Israel-based company exploited digital advertising technology to install back doors onto devices, merely by the victim viewing an advertisement on a website or in an app.

This exploit — called ''zero-click mercenary spyware" — allowed bad actors to run code on devices that installed software that acted as a back door to the device, allowing them to access things like passwords, emails and details of internal systems.

The Citizen Lab claims that a company, Discover-Tech, acted as the go-between for online advertising platforms like Google and spyware and hacking companies. At least one of those, Candiru, has been placed under US export controls because of its "malicious cyber activities".

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[–] bignose@aussie.zone [S] 2 points 2 weeks ago*

Seconding the recommendation for Firefox, which is the only mainstream browser that will allow an ad blocker that isn't compromised.

Google Chrome cripples effective ad blockers (like uBlock Origin, which I also recommend), unsurprisingly because Google is one of the major forces wanting to push adverts. So it's inherently insecure by comparison.

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