Citizen Lab Exposes 'AdFection' Zero-Click Spyware Campaign Targeting Al Jazeera Devices via Digital Ads

A campaign of zero-click spyware known as "AdFection" has been uncovered by researchers at The Citizen Lab, University of Toronto, which infiltrates devices through digital advertisements. From 2024 to 2025, 45 devices belonging to Al Jazeera were specifically targeted by ad-based attacks linked to Discover-Tech, a company founded in Israel, which disseminated spyware associated with Candiru. The compromised devices reached out to Discover-Tech prior to establishing a connection with Candiru's network. This marks the first documented instance of spyware propagation via advertisements. During March to June 2023, Discover-Tech's ads were present in over 70,000 mobile applications and 120,000 websites. Following this revelation, Google revoked Discover-Tech's registration, and IAB Europe removed it from its Global Vendor List, while Citizen Lab researchers raised concerns about the associated dangers, with neither Discover-Tech nor Candiru providing comments.