Starlink users have been targeted for surveillance by an Israeli\nadvertising technology company, according to six sources who spoke about\nfindings by digital defence firm TrendAI.<\/p>\n
Discover-Tech advertisements were shown to Starlink users to track or\nspy on them, the sources said, Reuters reported on Wednesday (28 October\n2026).<\/p>\n
Researchers also found that Discover-Tech was among the biggest\nbidders for advertisements shown to Starlink users. It was also the\nleading bidder for traffic from the service in more than 100 countries,\nincluding areas where satellite internet services are banned.<\/p>\n
TrendAI researchers had previously not named Discover-Tech as being\nbehind the targeting of Starlink users. They used the identifier\nShadow-Earth-79, which turned out to be TrendAI\u2019s code name for\nDiscover-Tech.<\/p>\n
TrendAI did not directly explain why it had withheld the company\u2019s\nname, saying only that it sought to reduce the risk of error and avoid\nlabels driven by sensationalism or misleading information.<\/p>\n
Separately, Canadian cybersecurity watchdog Citizen Lab and New York\nad-tech firm Confiant identified Discover-Tech. They said the company\nhad abused the advertising-bidding process in a way that could expose\ninternet users\u2019 data to bidders.<\/p>\n
Those parties could then collect leaked data, process it and combine\nit with other information. This could reveal users\u2019 identities, enable\ntracking and even allow them to be monitored.<\/p>\n
According to Citizen Lab and Confiant, the advertisements had\nappeared on sensitive networks belonging to media organisations,\ngovernments and technology companies.<\/p>\n
Google, Comcast and several other companies have removed\nDiscover-Tech from their respective advertising platforms.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/starlink-users-secretly-targeted-by-israeli-company-1793181129", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }