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Researchers at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab confirmed that mercenary hackers laced online ads with zero‑click exploits, installing sophisticated spyware on iOS and Android devices without user interaction. The campaign, dubbed AdFection, infected forty‑five devices at the international media organization Al Jazeera during twenty‑four and twenty‑five, illustrating a new threat vector that targets journalists and newsrooms worldwide. Discover‑Tech, an Israeli advertising broker, facilitated the delivery of these malicious ads through major platforms such as Google, Yandex, and Beeswax. In response, Google and the IAB Europe removed Discover‑Tech from their vendor registries, and other ad networks terminated its access, signaling a swift industry backlash. The incident underscores the growing intersection of advertising revenue models and state‑backed cyber espionage, raising urgent questions about regulatory oversight and the protection of media personnel.

By Claire D. | JQJO News