Less than a month ago, Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Israel could launch cyberattacks on smartphones—a statement that followed his brazen admission that Israel had carried out bomb attacks in Lebanon two years prior using pagers and radios. While some dismissed this as an empty threat, a report from Citizen Lab reveals that such attacks are already occurring, affecting millions of devices.
Researchers at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab allege that Discover-Tech, an Israeli digital advertising firm, uses online advertisements as a conduit to install spyware on targeted devices.
What makes this advertising platform—dubbed "Controlium"—so alarming is that it requires no action from the victim; there is no need to click a link (a "zero-click" exploit), open a file, or perform any other interaction. The device can be infected without the owner’s knowledge in a matter of seconds.
The displayed advertisements appear standard, but Controlium collects data such as user identity and IP addresses. If a user is identified as a target, a third-party spyware provider can deliver malicious code that installs itself automatically.
According to the Citizen Lab report, dozens of devices belonging to Al Jazeera journalists and staff have been infected with malware via Controlium. Meanwhile, it is estimated that millions of users worldwide have been served advertisements from Discover-Tech since 2024.
The methods used to spread viruses and malware have become increasingly sophisticated; advertisements—once considered harmless—can now serve as vectors for attacks. It is no wonder, then, that users are installing ad-blocking software to protect themselves from becoming victims.
