75
Israeli firm used online ads to run vast spy operation, researchers say (www.reuters.com)
submitted 3 weeks ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
8 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Israeli digital advertising agency Discover-Tech spied on internet users through a sprawling network of online ads that it used to ​track targets and help hack their devices, two research groups said on Thursday.

Its services gave Israel's Candiru — a spyware company blacklisted by the US government — as well as ‌other Israeli surveillance firms access to advertising platforms run by Google, Comcast, Russia's Yandex and others, according to separate reports from Canadian cyber watchdog group Citizen Lab and New York advertising security firm Confiant.

all 8 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] 18 points 3 weeks ago (1 child)

And this is why I block all ad scripts. Sure, I might want to support the website, but I’m not going to run an unvetted third party’s scripts. Display passive ads and I’ll give them my views. Curate them appropriately and I may even click through.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •
  • [–] 3 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

    You shouldn't feel bad about protecting yourself: Advertisers did this to themselves, blame them. They have been a major attack vector for malware and scams for decades now and they don't give a single fuck about genuinely policing anything.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
    • [–] 8 points 3 weeks ago

    I've recently taken to reinstalling NoScript. The web has become too hostile.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
    •
    [–] 5 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

    This written by AI or am I crazy?

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
    • [–] 5 points 3 weeks ago

    Not surprised. Seems any vendor I'm asked to add to our prebid setup is based in Israel.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
    •
    [–] 3 points 3 weeks ago

    Just another reason to block ads.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
    •