Israeli Spy Firm Suspected of Targeting Starlink Users in Over 100 Countries
Six sources said the Israeli firm Discover-Tech was one of the biggest ad sources for Starlink users and the top bidder on its traffic in over 100 countries.
Six people familiar with the matter said researchers at TrendAI, a unit of Tokyo-based cybersecurity company Trend Micro, concluded that an Israeli advertising company suspected of being a spy firm was one of the biggest sources of digital ads shown to users of SpaceX's Starlink service, and that the ads were likely being used to geolocate or otherwise surveil them. The sources, cited by Reuters, identified the company as Discover-Tech, known in TrendAI's report by the codename “Shadow-Earth-79.”
The sources said Discover-Tech had become one of the world's leading bidders for ads aimed at Starlink users and was the No. 1 bidder on Starlink traffic in more than 100 countries, including several where the service was banned or restricted, and the top ad buyer in Syria, Libya, Yemen and South Sudan, and No. 2 in Afghanistan.
TrendAI released a report on October 15 about the targeting of Starlink users but did not name Discover-Tech, instead referring to “an ad tech entity” it called “Shadow-Earth-79”; the six sources said the codename refers to the company. The report concluded that the bidding pattern suggested “targeting and tracking infrastructure rather than a commercial advertising operation.”
Companies including Google and Comcast said they had removed Discover-Tech from their ad platforms, after Canada's Citizen Lab and New York ad technology firm Confiant named the company, saying its ads had appeared inside dozens of sensitive networks belonging to media organizations, governments and tech firms. Discover-Tech and SpaceX did not respond to requests for comment.
What Do These Terms Mean?
Starlink: A satellite internet service provided by SpaceX via a constellation of satellites in low Earth orbit.
Ad Tech: A software ecosystem that determines which ads appear to a user and measures their interaction with them.
Surveillance Infrastructure: A system that collects and analyzes user data on a large scale, which can be used to track behavior and communications.
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