Israeli spy outfit Discover-Tech spied on internet users through a sprawling network of dodgy online ads ​that it used to track, surveil, and geolocate internet users. In some instances simply having the firm’s “zero click” spyware ads displayed by devices resulted in infection. The company seemed particularly interested in using ads to surveil and geolocate…

    • BigDiction@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      4 days ago

      They use tricks and exploits to escape their sandbox. Browsers have some legitimate uses for 3rd party JavaScript to interact with the page. Malicious ads will obfuscate their code to use APIs in an unintended way.

      Sorry I don’t know more specifics, but this is why the FBI recommends you run an ad blocker.

      • modus@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        4 days ago

        That makes sense. Thanks. So DNS-level ad blockers wouldn’t help in this situation, right? We’re talking about browser plugins to block malicious code?

        • BigDiction@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          4 days ago

          DNS blockers like Pi-hole would potentially offer better protection right if the network requests are intercepted at the local network level then even devices like a smart fridge that make ad requests could be protected without an ad blocker extension on every device.