The Financial Times reports that researchers from the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab and cybersecurity firm Confiant uncovered a zero-click spyware technique called AdFection, which exploits targeted online advertising to infect devices without user interaction. The operation is linked to Israeli advertising company Discover-Tech, which allegedly facilitated spyware developed by Candiru. In 2024 and 2025, at least 45 devices belonging to Al Jazeera journalists and staff were reportedly targeted.
Between March and June 2026, Discover-Tech bid for advertising space 3.7 billion times and won 442 million auctions. Its advertisements appeared on more than 120,000 websites and 70,000 mobile apps, potentially exposing users across government agencies, defense contractors, media organizations, and technology companies to profiling or surveillance. Following the investigation, Google blocked Discover-Tech from its advertising platforms, while IAB Europe suspended the company from its vendor list. Researchers warned that the case highlights significant security risks within the global digital advertising ecosystem and called for further investigations.
Apple released security updates for iPhones, iPads, and Macs to address a zero-day vulnerability (CVE-2026-86950) in its CoreGraphics framework, which could allow malicious code execution when processing a specially crafted file. Apple said the flaw may have been exploited in an “extremely sophisticated attack” targeting specific individuals, although it has not disclosed the victims or attackers or confirmed whether spyware was involved. Meta Product Security reported the vulnerability, and Apple addressed it with patches for supported operating systems, including iOS 26.7.1, iPadOS 26.7.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.8.1 and Tahoe 26.7.1.
Apple urges users to install the latest available operating-system updates and enable automatic updates to reduce exposure to potential attacks. Although the reported exploitation appears to have targeted specific individuals rather than the general public, unpatched devices may remain vulnerable. People at elevated risk, including journalists, activists, and government officials, may also consider enabling Apple’s Lockdown Mode for additional protection.
