Israeli Spy Firm Targeted Starlink Users in Suspected Surveillance Effort

An Israeli advertising technology company heavily targeted Starlink users in what researchers assessed was a likely surveillance operation, according to six people familiar with the findings.

Discover-Tech emerged as the leading bidder for ads targeting Starlink traffic in more than 100 countries, including markets where the satellite internet service faced bans or restrictions, the people told Reuters.

Researchers at TrendAI, part of Japan’s Trend Micro, drew on advertising data collected through the company’s telemetry.

They concluded that Discover-Tech’s activity likely served to locate Starlink users or otherwise monitor them.

The findings place advertising auctions at the center of efforts to track people using a service that can bypass national telecommunications networks.

An Unnamed Operation

TrendAI published its findings on October 15 but identified the operator only as an advertising technology entity using the codename Shadow-Earth-79.

All six sources said that name referred to Discover-Tech.

The report described bidding behavior consistent with “targeting and tracking infrastructure rather than a commercial advertising operation.”

Beyond its concentration on Starlink traffic, the entity ranked as the largest advertising buyer in Syria, Libya, Yemen and South Sudan, and second-largest in Afghanistan, according to TrendAI.

Its share of successful bids was also unusually high in countries including Hungary, Israel, Egypt, Azerbaijan and Venezuela.

TrendAI questioned the commercial rationale for that spending, arguing that demand for legitimate Western advertising in sanctioned countries or active conflict zones was negligible.

Advertising As a Surveillance Channel

Advertising auctions can disclose information about internet users to companies bidding for space in their browsers and applications.

Over time, and when combined with other records, that information can help identify individuals and trace their online activity.

In some cases, it can also help select targets for surveillance software.

Citizen Lab, the Canadian cybersecurity watchdog, and advertising security company Confiant separately named Discover-Tech in investigations published on the same day as TrendAI’s report.

Both accused the company of exploiting the bidding system.

They said its ads had appeared across dozens of sensitive networks used by news organizations, government bodies, and technology companies.

Google, Comcast, and other businesses later said they removed Discover-Tech from their advertising platforms.

At least one major U.S. technology company and an international organization have opened internal investigations into possible targeting of their employees, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Starlink’s Strategic Role

Starlink terminals connect through SpaceX satellites, allowing users to communicate outside nationally regulated telecommunications systems.

That makes the service valuable in restricted internet environments and conflict zones.

Ukraine’s military relies on Starlink for battlefield communications and coordinating drone attacks.

Governments’ interest in locating users has also encouraged businesses offering tracking capabilities.

Haaretz and Intelligence Online reported in May that Israeli-owned companies were marketing ways to identify and follow Starlink users. Haaretz linked those methods to advertising data.

TrendAI researchers considered publicly naming Discover-Tech but abandoned the proposal after executives raised legal concerns, five sources said.

The company did not directly explain that decision. It said its attribution policy sought to reduce errors and avoid “hype-driven labels.”