Discover-Tech suspected of tracking Starlink users — Cyprus Mail
Israeli company Discover-Tech has been suspected of collecting location data on users of Starlink satellite internet through the online advertising system in more than 100 countries. According to Cyprus Mail, Reuters, citing six sources familiar with the matter, reports that the company may have used advertising auctions to track users’ locations and potentially monitor their internet activity.
At the same time, the available data do not prove that specific Starlink users were actually tracked or that their devices were infected with spyware.
How the data collection may have worked
The research was conducted by TrendAI, a unit of Japanese cybersecurity company Trend Micro. Its specialists identified unusually high Discover-Tech activity in advertising auctions involving Starlink users. According to their findings, the company appeared to be a participant placing the highest bid for ad space associated with the service in more than 100 countries, including places where Starlink is banned or restricted.
Such auctions are conducted automatically every time a person opens a website or app. During the process, advertising companies may receive data about a user’s device, IP address and approximate location. Systematic participation in auctions may make it possible to collect such information even without displaying ads, as well as combine it with other data in attempts to identify and track a person across different websites and apps.
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Activity in conflict countries
On October 15, TrendAI published a report on this activity under the codename Shadow-Earth-79, without naming the company. According to TrendAI, its policy of not naming those responsible is intended to avoid mistaken identification. All six Reuters sources said it was Discover-Tech.
Particularly intensive activity was recorded in Syria, Libya, Yemen and South Sudan, where demand for regular commercial advertising is limited. The Canadian research laboratory Citizen Lab and U.S. digital advertising security company Confiant later also named Discover-Tech. They said the company’s advertising activity reached the networks of news organizations, government agencies, international organizations and technology companies.
A separate investigation linked part of the company’s activity to the distribution of spyware through advertising, but this does not mean that every Starlink user who may have been targeted by this activity was attacked. Google, Comcast and other advertising providers blocked Discover-Tech on their platforms. The company, its CEO and SpaceX did not respond to requests for comment.
