Research from TrendAI, a division of Trend Micro, links the Israeli advertising technology firm Discover-Tech to a tracking operation codenamed Shadow-Earth-79. The report, published on October 15, suggests that the firm utilized real-time advertising auctions to collect data on users, potentially identifying individuals or facilitating spyware targeting.
The activity was identified through unusual bidding patterns in regions with limited legitimate advertising demand. Discover-Tech emerged as the primary ad buyer in Syria, Libya, Yemen, and South Sudan, and the second largest in Afghanistan. Significant bidding activity was also recorded in countries including Israel, Egypt, Azerbaijan, and Venezuela.
Following the disclosure, Google and Comcast removed Discover-Tech from their respective advertising platforms. Additionally, an international organization and a major U.S. technology company have initiated internal investigations to determine if the firm’s advertising practices were used to target their employees.
The report notes that such tracking methods exploit data embedded in bid requests during online ad auctions. TrendAI researchers concluded that the scale and geographic distribution of these bids indicate the presence of a tracking and targeting infrastructure rather than standard commercial advertising operations.
