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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Discover-Tech bought advertising impressions massively in more than 100 countries.
The Israeli ad tech company Discover-Tech is suspected of using digital advertising to track SpaceX founder Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet users. According to Reuters sources, TrendAI researchers found that the company was one of the largest bidders in ads auctions targeting Starlink service users in more than 100 countries. The ads could help determine users’ geolocation and collect other data about their activity.
How digital advertising could help track users
Trend Micro’s Japanese unit — TrendAI — 15 October published a report on suspicious activity in ad auctions around Starlink. It mentioned a structure code-named Shadow-Earth-79, which, according to six Reuters sources, was used to refer to Discover-Tech. In more than 100 countries, including those where Starlink use is prohibited or restricted, this structure ranked first in bid volume for Starlink’s ad traffic.
It concerns an auction system through which advertisers bid for the right to show advertisements in apps and browsers of users. Advertising auctions can reveal to participants data about internet users. If such information is collected systematically and combined with other data, it can identify users, track their activity, and in some cases create conditions for installing spyware.
Advertising on sensitive resources
On the same day TrendAI published its report, Canadian research outfit Citizen Lab and New York-based Confiant, a digital advertising security company, also named Discover-Tech. According to them, the company exploited the ad auction mechanism that can transmit information about internet users to auction participants.
The organizations said that Discover-Tech ads appeared in dozens of networks connected with media, government agencies, and tech companies. After investigations, Google, Comcast, and other entities said they had dropped the company from their advertising platforms. Reuters sources say at least one large American tech company and one international organization began internal reviews to determine whether Discover-Tech ads could have targeted their employees.
Countries with suspicious activity
The TrendAI report said that Shadow-Earth-79 was the largest purchaser of digital advertising in Syria, Libya, Yemen, and South Sudan, and in Afghanistan it ranked second. Researchers considered such activity suspicious because demand for legitimate Western advertising in sanctioned countries or conflict zones, in their view, is very low.
The structure also captured an unusually large share of won ad auctions in Hungary, Israel, Egypt, Azerbaijan, and Venezuela. Six Reuters sources said TrendAI researchers tied this activity to Discover-Tech, but company leadership expressed concerns about legal risks, after which they declined to name the company in the report. Reuters notes that cybersecurity specialists sometimes soften public accusations due to concerns about legal or commercial consequences.
In May, Israeli newspaper Haaretz and Intelligence Online separately reported that Israeli companies offered clients ways to identify and track Starlink users, including using digital advertising data.
Why Starlink became a target for surveillance
Starlink satellite internet attracts those who seek to monitor terminal users, because the service can provide connectivity beyond traditional national telecom networks. This allows bypassing local internet restrictions and supports communication in remote or conflict-affected areas.
In Ukraine, Starlink has particular importance for military communications on the front line and drone control. Recall that on the night of 14 October, Ukrainian soldiers noted that satellite communications began vanishing on platforms moving faster than 160 km/h. As a result, some missions of Ukrainian drones had to be canceled.
The Wall Street Journal, citing American officials, reported that the decision to limit the system’s operation was related to Musk himself. At the same time, versions about who gave the final order differed: Musk had previously said that Starshield parameters are controlled by the U.S. government, while representatives of the Trump administration and the Pentagon disputed that they ordered limiting the system.
On Saturday, 24 October, it became known that speed restrictions were lifted. President Volodymyr Zelensky said the system’s operation returned to normal indicators, and the Ministry of Defense reported stable connectivity at speeds above 400 km/h.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Reuters: ізраїльська компанія може стежити за користувачами Starlink через рекламу". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: ZN.ua.
