根据加拿大网络监管机构公民实验室和总部位于纽约的广告安全公司康菲安特周四分别发布的两项调查，以色列数字广告公司迪斯科夫特科技（Discover-Tech）涉嫌构建了一个庞大的广告网络，该网络覆盖超过12万个网站和7.5万个应用程序，可用于追踪互联网用户，并在某些情况下帮助间谍软件安装到用户设备上。
Online s for everyday products such as phones and earbuds may have been used to track internet users and help install spyware on their devices, according to two investigations into an Israeli digital advertising company. Discover-Tech allegedly built a sprawling advertising network that reached more than 120,000 websites and 75,000 apps, allowing it to track users and, in some cases, help surveillance firms target their devices, researchers said on Thursday.
研究人员称，迪斯科夫特科技涉嫌利用这一基础设施跨网站和应用追踪用户，部分广告据称有助于传播间谍软件。调查结果揭示了数字广告行业如何被用于与销售产品相去甚远的目的。
The findings, published separately by Canadian cyber watchdog Citizen Lab and New York-based advertising security firm Confiant, expose how the digital advertising industry can be exploited for purposes far removed from selling products.
这些发现也引发了对印度互联网用户的担忧，印度数百万用户依赖广告支持的网站和移动应用获取新闻、购物和日常服务。然而，调查并未证实印度用户或政府网络曾被迪斯科夫特科技特别针对。广告网络如何运作在线广告依赖于帮助公司识别用户、衡量其行为并投放定向促销的技术。研究人员称，迪斯科夫特科技涉嫌利用这一基础设施追踪人们在网站和应用上的活动，部分广告据称有助于传播间谍软件。
The revelations also raise concerns for internet users in India, where millions rely on advertising-supported websites and mobile apps for news, shopping and everyday services. However, the investigations do not establish that Indian users or government networks were specifically targeted by Discover-Tech.HOW THE ADVERTISING NETWORK WORKEDOnline advertising relies on technology that helps companies identify users, measure their behaviour and deliver targeted promotions. Researchers said Discover-Tech allegedly exploited this infrastructure to track people across websites and apps, with some s reportedly helping to deliver spyware.
用户不一定需要点击广告，追踪就会开始。根据研究人员的说法，广告仅在网页或应用中加载即可收集信息。他们表示，迪斯科夫特科技有时还试图从智能手机用户那里提取电话号码。
Users did not necessarily have to click on an for tracking to begin. According to the researchers, the ads could collect information simply by loading on a webpage or within an app. Discover-Tech also sometimes attempted to extract phone numbers from smartphone users, they said.
该公司的影响力超出了搭载其广告的网站和应用。通过一种称为Cookie匹配的过程，广告公司可以共享或匹配标识符，以在不同平台上识别用户。
The company's reach extended beyond the websites and apps carrying its s. Through a process known as cookie matching, advertising companies can share or match identifiers to recognise users across different platforms.
康菲安特联合创始人杰罗姆·当古表示，迪斯科夫特科技每天在全球分发至少1000万条广告。
Jerome Dangu, co-founder of Confiant, said Discover-Tech was distributing at least 10 million s a day worldwide.
他估计，可能有数亿人接触过Discover-Tech的广告。“极有可能有数亿人受到了Discover-Tech的影响，”丹古说道。
He estimated that hundreds of millions of people could have encountered its ads." Very likely hundreds of millions of people would have been touched by Discover-Tech," Dangu said.
公民实验室的高级研究员沃尔菲·克里斯特尔指出，这一发现揭示了广告生态系统中存在的广泛安全隐患。“当前网络广告的运作模式本身就是一种系统性安全威胁，”克里斯特尔对路透社表示，“无论是对各国政府、私营企业、民间团体还是其他所有群体而言都是如此。”
Wolfie Christl, a senior researcher at Citizen Lab, said the findings pointed to a wider vulnerability in the advertising ecosystem." The way online advertising works today is a systemic security threat," Christl told Reuters.
间谍软件链接与半岛电视台事件调查结果显示，Discover-Tech发布的某些广告链接与以色列间谍软件公司Candiru有关。2021年，美国政府因指控该公司向政府官员、记者、活动人士及学者提供监控软件而将其列入黑名单。
"For states, the private sector, civil society and everyone else alike."SPYWARE LINKS AND THE AL JAZEERA CASEThe investigations linked some of Discover-Tech's s to Candiru, an Israeli spyware company that was blacklisted by the US government in 2021 over allegations that it supplied software used to target government officials, journalists, activists and academics.
间谍软件能够秘密获取设备上的信息，从而泄露私人通讯及其他敏感数据。研究人员称，通过Discover-Tech传播的某些链接曾被用于在目标设备上安装Candiru的间谍软件。
Spyware can secretly access information on a device, potentially exposing private communications and other sensitive data. Researchers said some s distributed through Discover-Tech were used to help install Candiru's spyware on targeted devices.
Confiant公司强调，经确认与Candiru相关的链接仅占Discover-Tech整体广告投放量的一小部分。
Confiant stressed that the s it linked to Candiru represented only a tiny fraction of Discover-Tech's overall advertising volume.
公民实验室证实，2024年至2025年间，借助Discover-Tech广告传播的Candiru高级间谍软件成功侵入卡塔尔半岛电视台的45台Windows设备。该实验室称，这一关联是在半岛电视台提供网络日志后得以确认的。
Citizen Lab said it had confirmed that a powerful form of Candiru spyware, delivered through Discover-Tech's ads, was used to compromise 45 Windows devices at Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera between 2024 and 2025. The group said it established the link after the broadcaster shared its network logs.
半岛电视台在声明中表示，“强烈谴责针对多名员工的间谍软件攻击行为”，并称正在采取各项措施保护员工及系统安全。
In a statement, Al Jazeera said it "condemns the spyware attacks targeting a number of its staff" and that it was taking steps to protect its employees and its systems.
“必须追究责任人的责任，” 它说。广告出现在敏感网络上。Discover-Tech 的广告网络据称延伸到了世界上一些最敏感的机构。Dangu 表示，这些广告出现在“数百个敏感类别的网络”中，包括五角大楼、国际原子能机构和国际刑事法院。公民实验室报告称，发现了类似证据，涉及与联合国、北约、欧盟委员会以及十几个国家政府相关的网络。
"Those responsible must be held accountable," it said.ADS APPEARED ON SENSITIVE NETWORKSThe reach of Discover-Tech's advertising network reportedly extended into some of the world's most sensitive institutions. Dangu said the ads had appeared in "hundreds of networks in sensitive categories," including the Pentagon, the International Atomic Energy Agency and the International Criminal Court. Citizen Lab reported similar evidence involving networks associated with the United Nations, NATO, the European Commission and more than a dozen national governments.
这些广告还出现在与英伟达、闪迪、博通和美光等半导体公司相关的网络上，以及墨西哥、以色列和欧洲的媒体组织网络上。研究人员未透露这些媒体机构的名称。Dangu 表示，巴勒斯坦领土似乎特别被该公司的广告所饱和。“你几乎可以去巴勒斯坦的任何网站——任何网站——都能看到 Discover-Tech 的广告。这使他们能够非常完整地了解一个国家的全部数字活动，”他说。公民实验室还发现，Discover-Tech 无意中在线上暴露了身份验证日志。
The ads also appeared on networks linked to semiconductor companies Nvidia, SanDisk, Broadcom and Micron, as well as media organisations in Mexico, Israel and Europe. The researchers did not name the media outlets. The Palestinian territories appeared to have been particularly saturated with the company's s, Dangu said." You go to almost any site in Palestine -- any site -- you find a Discover-Tech ad. It gives them a very complete visibility on the digital activities of an entire country," he said. Citizen Lab also found that Discover-Tech had inadvertently exposed authentication logs online.
这些记录包含了互联网协议地址，显示人们曾从以色列、欧洲和海湾地区登录该公司的系统，提供了关于其用户可能所在位置的线索。谷歌、广告业针对该公司采取行动。Discover-Tech 此后被排除在在线广告市场的部分领域之外。谷歌表示，它曾与 Citizen Lab 和 Confiant 合作进行调查，并因该公司“系统性违反我们的政策”而将其从广告平台移除。
The records contained internet protocol addresses indicating that people had logged into the company's systems from Israel, Europe and the Gulf, offering clues about the possible locations of its users.GOOGLE, AD INDUSTRY MOVE AGAINST FIRMDiscover-Tech has since been excluded from parts of the online advertising market. Google said it had worked with Citizen Lab and Confiant on the investigation and removed the company from its advertising platforms "for systematically violating our policies."IAB Europe, which represents the digital advertising and marketing industry, said it had suspended Discover-Tech from its list of globally approved vendors the previous week after an audit found policy violations.
代表数字广告和营销行业的 IAB 欧洲表示，在一次审计发现政策违规后，上周已将 Discover-Tech 从其全球认可供应商名单中暂停移除。康卡斯特表示，其广告技术子公司 Beeswax 已因“最近的活动”将 Discover-Tech 从其平台移除。俄罗斯的 Yandex 未对路透社的置评请求作出回应。Discover-Tech 成立于 2020 年，未对通过其联系表单发送的消息作出回应。
Comcast said its advertising technology subsidiary, Beeswax, had removed Discover-Tech from its platform "following recent activity." Russia's Yandex did not respond to Reuters' request for comment. Discover-Tech, founded in 2020, did not respond to messages sent through its contact form.
其首席执行官 Dekel Boni 也未回复电子邮件或领英消息。路透社未能联系到 Candiru 的所有者以获取置评。这些发现加剧了人们对广告行业收集的数据可能被用于监控的担忧，包括在国家安全背景下。今年早些时候，五角大楼表示，它曾收到报告称，美军在战争地区部署的部队曾因广告技术公司和数据经纪人收集的位置数据而成为目标。随后，美国军队的某些分支在特定设备上禁用了广告追踪。- 完
Its chief executive, Dekel Boni, also did not respond to emails or a LinkedIn message. Reuters was unable to reach Candiru's owners for comment. The findings add to growing concerns that data collected through the advertising industry can be exploited for surveillance, including in national security contexts. Earlier this year, the Pentagon said it had received reports that US forces deployed in war zones had been targeted using location data harvested by advertising technology companies and data brokers. Some branches of the US military subsequently disabled ad tracking on certain devices.- Ends