Starlink users targeted by suspected Israeli spy ads, researchers find

An Israeli ad tech company, Discover-Tech, heavily targeted users of Starlink’s satellite internet service in a likely effort to spy on them, Reuters reports, citing six people familiar with the matter.

Researchers at TrendAI, a unit of Tokyo-based cybersecurity firm Trend Micro, concluded that Discover-Tech was one of the biggest sources of ads shown to Starlink users and that the ads were likely used to geolocate or otherwise surveil them. The company was the No. 1 bidder on Starlink traffic in more than 100 countries, including several where Starlink was banned or restricted, the sources said.

TrendAI published a report on October 15 but did not name Discover-Tech, calling the party responsible “an ad tech entity” it codenamed “Shadow-Earth-79.” The six sources said that was its codename for Discover-Tech. Researchers dropped plans to name it after executives raised legal concerns, five sources said.

On the same day, Citizen Lab and Confiant named Discover-Tech, saying it abused the ad bidding process, which can leak user data. Google and Comcast said they had removed the company from their ad platforms.

SpaceX and Discover-Tech did not respond to requests for comment.