Discover-Tech allegedly targeted Starlink users with digital ads to track their locations, according to sources cited in a new Reuters report. Digital defense firm TrendAI found that an Israeli ad tech company was heavily targeting users of satellite internet service Starlink, probably to spy on them. That’s according to six people familiar with the matter, speaking to Reuters. Raphael Satter reported it on October 27 in a Reuters story, and the claims rest on sources, not on a published attribution. “Researchers at TrendAI, a unit of Tokyo-based cybersecurity company Trend Micro, concluded the Israeli company Discover-Tech was one of the biggest sources of digital ads shown to users of SpaceX’s Starlink service and that the ads were likely being used to geolocate or otherwise surveil them, according to the six people.” Reuters states. TrendAI concluded that the company Discover-Tech was one of the biggest sources of digital ads shown to users of SpaceX’s Starlink. They believe the ads were likely used to geolocate users or otherwise surveil them. “TrendAI Research observed large-scale use of advertising infrastructure for geolocation tracking, advertising technology surveillance, and intelligence gathering. Data from these activities is valuable for precise targeting of key individuals in sensitive locations, including active conflict zones.” reads the report published TrendAI. “SHADOW-EARTH-79 is also the number one bidder in 105 individual countries in Starlink traffic that we observed. It accounts for approximately 13% of all winning bid events in Starlink traffic, five times higher than average (approximately 3%) bids for other bidders, and the highest of any high-volume buyer. Starlink is widely used in conflict zones where terrestrial networks are degraded.” SpaceX didn’t respond to requests for comment, and Discover-Tech and its chief executive didn’t respond over the past two weeks. Starlink users make attractive targets. Governments around the world are trying to get a grip on satellite internet terminals, which route data through SpaceX satellites and not through nationally regulated telecom firms. That lets them sidestep local internet restrictions, work in hostile areas or coordinate action across battlefields. Ukraine’s military relies on Starlink for frontline communications and for directing drone strikes. The findings come from advertising data collected by TrendAI. The data shows that Discover-Tech became one of the biggest bidders for ads shown to Starlink users worldwide. It was the top bidder in more than 100 countries, including several where Starlink is banned or restricted. Advertisers bid in online auctions to buy space for ads in browsers and apps. “In Starlink IP space traffic that we observed, SHADOW-EARTH-79 is the second-largest winning bidder by raw volume. However, examining the statistics and saturation of the group’s ad impression buying strategy reveals an obvious skew towards buying ad impressions on Starlink addresses, compared with its overall footprint.” continues the report. TrendAI published its report on October 15 but didn’t name Discover-Tech. Instead, it identified “an ad tech entity” called Shadow-Earth-79. Six sources say that’s TrendAI’s codename for Discover-Tech. TrendAI didn’t directly explain why it left out the company’s name. It said its naming policy helps prevent mistakes and avoids labels that could confuse security teams, lead them to focus on the wrong risks or prompt the wrong response. Starlink users are valuable targets for surveillance. Governments want more control over satellite internet services, which send data through SpaceX satellites rather than local telecom networks. Starlink lets users get around local internet restrictions, stay connected in dangerous areas and communicate on the battlefield. Ukraine’s military uses Starlink for frontline communications and to help direct drone strikes. Finding ways to track Starlink users has turned into a cottage industry. In May, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz and the website Intelligence Online separately reported that Israeli-owned businesses were pitching clients on ways to identify and track them. Haaretz said exploiting ad data appeared to play a key role. On the same day as TrendAI’s report, the Canadian cyber watchdog Citizen Lab and the New York ad tech firm Confiant named Discover-Tech. Both said it abused the ad bidding process, which can leak data about internet users back to the bidder. Over time, a bidder can collect that data, collate it and merge it with other information to de-anonymize users and follow them around the web. In some cases it can also set them up for targeting with surveillance software. Citizen Lab and Confiant said the ads appeared inside dozens of sensitive networks belonging to media organizations, governments and tech firms. Google, Comcast and other companies said they removed Discover-Tech from their ad platforms. At least one big US tech company and one international organization recently started internal inquiries into whether Discover-Tech’s ads targeted their employees, according to one of the six people and a seventh person familiar with the matter. TrendAI’s report pointed to suspicious bidding patterns that suggested “targeting and tracking infrastructure” and not a commercial advertising operation. “Overall, the design of this “customer-facing” front-end makes us believe that the system is more likely designed as a “surveillance” and “intelligence gathering” platform, rather than simply a platform for advertisement management.” the report concludes. “The collected evidence indicates with moderate-to-high confidence that SHADOW-EARTH-79’s advertising presence functions as targeting and tracking infrastructure rather than a commercial advertising operation. The anomalous bidding behavior, heavy dominance in sanctioned and conflict states, and pronounced over-bidding for Starlink address space establish intent to reach specific audiences in sensitive geographies.” It noted an obvious skew toward Starlink-aimed ads. It also found that Shadow-Earth-79 was the top ad buyer in Syria, Libya, Yemen and South Sudan, and the second biggest in Afghanistan. Few Western brands are chasing shoppers in Libya at the moment, and the report says demand for legitimate Western advertising in sanctioned or active-conflict states is effectively zero. The entity also won an implausibly dominant share of bids in several other countries, including Hungary, Israel, Egypt, Azerbaijan and Venezuela. The researchers were convinced Discover-Tech was behind it and discussed naming it in the report, according to the six sources. They dropped the idea after TrendAI executives raised legal concerns, five of those sources said. It wouldn’t be the first time. Earlier this year, Reuters reported that Palo Alto stripped explicit references to China from a report on a global cyberespionage campaign, even though its researchers were confident Beijing was behind the hacking. Reuters said the report was watered down over fears that naming China would cause problems for Palo Alto’s operations there, which were already under scrutiny after a Beijing directive told domestic companies not to use its products. Palo Alto said the lack of attribution had nothing to do with China’s procurement rules and called any suggestion otherwise speculative and false. Executives fear that exposing surveillance operations could draw retribution, and industry experts tell Reuters the sector has a habit of staying quiet. “Self-censorship is common in the cybersecurity industry, especially when executives fear that exposing surveillance operations could draw retribution, industry experts say.” Reuters concludes. Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon Pierluigi Paganini (SecurityAffairs – hacking, Starlink)
PHP2Shell shows how quickly attackers can exploit critical vulnerabilities, often before organizations have time to patch. Token Security explains why limiting the access of service accounts, API keys, and AI agents is just as important as fixing vulnerabilities to reduce the damage from a breach.
Background Network-connected surveillance cameras are now widespread in both home and enterprise environments, so securing them is essential to safeguarding physical spaces and sensitive assets. As these devices continue to gain new features and network connectivity capabilities, vulnerabilities in their implementation can have significant security implications. During our research, we discovered a denial-of-service vulnerability that affects Intelbras IP cameras systems. The flaw resides in a firmware update endpoint that is accessible without authentication and allows anyone with access to the local Wi-Fi network to knock cameras offline. A single request disrupts the camera for only about a minute, but sending periodic requests keeps the device offline indefinitely. We reported the issue to Intelbras, monitored the remediation process, validated the fix in the new firmware, and will now demonstrate the exploitation procedure step-by-step. Following our notification, Intelbras patched the vulnerability and released updated firmware (R.260804) along with update instructions. A candidate ID of CAN-2026-2035970 has been assigned by MITRE following submission, pending the final CVE assignment. Additionally, the Intelbras team recently informed us that MITRE has classified the vulnerability as Medium, assigning it a score of 5.1 under the CVSS 4.0 framework. The issue discussed in this article is no longer present in the latest firmware version. Firmware Intelbras provides firmware files on its official website. While users can manually install these updates via an SD card, the cameras also natively support firmware upgrades over the local network via their web interface and mobile app. We obtained the firmware version v240927 for the iM3B-C camera, which was the latest available version at the time of our research. According to Intelbras, the same firmware is also compatible with the iMX C, iM4 C, iM5 SC, iME 360 C, and iM7+ FC models. Below, we can view the firmware version and the camera model used as an example. To provide context, we will explain how the camera’s authentication mechanism works and why it is relevant to accessing the camera’s endpoints. The main firmware component is an ARM binary named sonia, responsible for controlling the kernel drivers used by the camera hardware, authentication, and livestream recording, among other things. How authentication works The global.login RPC method handles authentication at the /RPC2_Login endpoint. First, the client, such as the mobile app or a custom script, sends the username and an empty password. The camera responds with an authentication challenge (a set of values to verify the password without transmitting it). This response returns a temporary session, the encryption type in the encryption field, a random value, and a realm (authentication scope). At this stage, a false response is normal and does not indicate a failed login, as the authentication process is not yet complete. Next, the client calculates the response password from the authentication challenge. It first generates an MD5 (username:realm:original_password) hash as the base. It then calculates a second MD5 (username:random:first_md5) hash, where first_md5 is the result of the previous step. To complete the authentication, the client sends this final result back to /RPC2_Login in a second global.login call, passing the username, calculated password, and temporary session ID. If the login is accepted, the camera returns true and a new, authenticated session. This session must be used for all subsequent RPC calls, including the camera’s other endpoints, for example, the one that reboots the device or those that expose sensitive information. Affected endpoint The affected endpoint is the firmware upgrade route http://<ip_address>/firmwareUpgrade_service/Demo, which lacks authentication checks; furthermore, it fails to verify whether the firmware is actually valid before initiating the upgrade process. This creates a serious issue because the upgrade requires the camera to reboot, and that is precisely when the problem occurs: the camera enters reboot mode and eventually shuts down, appearing offline to the user and anyone who has the camera registered on their device. PoC: vulnerability exploitation Now that we have outlined how the vulnerability works, we will use a Python script on an iM3B-C camera to exploit it for demonstration purposes. The exploit contacts the camera’s endpoint to upload firmware. Below, we can see sonia creating the endpoint responsible for the firmware upgrade. Next, the exploit will hit the endpoint and cause the camera to reboot. Consequently, mobile phones running the Intelbras app will lose connection with the registered device. Below, we can see the camera operating normally: the green light is on and the app is showing it is available for viewing. The camera is online After the exploit executes, we can see the effects: the camera goes offline and loses connection to the registered devices. The camera is offline The exploit is quite simple: it sends an HTTP POST request with the firmware, which causes the camera to accept the request and initiate the reboot process. It does not matter whether the firmware is original; the reboot process will start regardless. New firmware version After we notified Intelbras about this flaw in the endpoint implementation, the company contacted the OEM vendor. As a result, a new firmware version was released that requires authentication to initiate an update through this endpoint. Below, we can compare the new firmware, which validates cookies and session data, with the old firmware, which performed no authentication checks and proceeded directly to the update routine. Real risk An attacker can remotely trigger the camera firmware upgrade and reboot process without authenticating or supplying a valid firmware image. This may cause the device to go offline, which results in a denial-of-service condition preventing legitimate users from accessing live monitoring or managing the camera. The potential impact is significant due to the number of affected users. The Intelbras Mibo Smart app, which the company provides to connect and manage the devices mentioned in this report, has over 4,000,000 downloads. Brazil represents the largest user base, followed by Paraguay, Ecuador, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Uruguay, and Venezuela. As a result, exploitation of this issue affects a large number of users. Takeaways This is a medium-severity vulnerability that Intelbras is already aware of. The issue has been addressed in a newer firmware release (R.260804 along with update instructions), which mitigates this attack vector. Because the vulnerability directly affects the availability and normal operation of the affected cameras, it is highly recommended that users verify the firmware version currently installed on their devices and update to the latest available version as soon as possible. Keeping the firmware up to date is an essential security practice, especially for internet-connected surveillance devices, as outdated versions may remain exposed to known vulnerabilities.
A Ukrainian national was sentenced to 70 months in prison for his role in Nefilim and Hive ransomware attacks targeting hospitals, government entities, and high-revenue businesses worldwide between 2018 and 2021. The sentence follows the extradition of 35-year-old Artem Aleksandrovych Stryzhak to the United States on April 30, 2025, after authorities arrested him in Spain in June 2024. "Artem Stryzhak is a prolific cybercriminal who worked with multiple ransomware groups to target U.S. businesses and hospitals," said Brett Leatherman, the FBI's Cyber Branch Operations Director. "These groups disrupted patient care and caused more than $100 million in losses. Today's sentence reflects the seriousness of Stryzhak's crimes and demonstrates the FBI's global reach and extensive network of international partners."
The GMO Group has urged customers to disconnect their systems from the internet and shut down computers after a threat actor who breached the company’s Onamae Desktop Cloud threatened to launch a ransomware attack today. The company later confirmed that data belonging to both the company and its customers had been published online. The alert concerns a cyberattack on Onamae Desktop Cloud, a popular VPS provider in Japan operated by GMO Internet, a member of GMO Internet Group and one of Japan's largest domain registrars. Last week, the company announced it detected an intrusion on October 20 that could have installed malware on up to 26,739 customers' servers. To minimize the risk, the company shut down the servers and reduced service availability before launching an investigation. The internet company assured customers that their payment information had not been exposed but warned that MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 (MT4/MT5) credentials and trading-account details may have been exposed or compromised. It urged customers to reset their passwords and terminate active sessions.
The University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center disclosed a cyberattack that caused system outages and disrupted patient care and academic activities. On Monday, UNM Health, the university’s healthcare provider, began temporarily limiting new patient admissions, diverting ambulances to nearby hospitals, and suspending outpatient surgeries and appointments. In an update on the incident, UNM said UNM Hospital and Sandoval Regional Medical Center remain open, and all clinics will resume scheduled appointments and procedures starting today, Tuesday, October 27. Regarding emergencies, the healthcare organization advised that people should call 911. However, today’s classes at its four health sciences schools are canceled, and nonessential HSC employees were instructed to stay home. UNM Health is a major statewide provider of specialist care with more than 1 million patient visits annually.
A credit card skimming group reportedly compromised a shared analytics script used by e-commerce platform Convertr to steal shoppers’ payment data during checkout. The campaign was identified on October 24 and has been attributed to a Brazilian gang, active since at least July 2024, that focuses on infecting online stores running Magento, OpenCart, and WooCommerce platforms. Convertr is a Brazilian e-commerce platform that powers online stores and checkout systems for dozens of major fashion brands in the country, handling R$2 billion ($370M) in sales. E-commerce security firm Sansec says that the attacker modified the Plausible tracker file hosted on a self-managed server operated by Convertr. Ecommerce cybersecurity company Sansec says that the attacker modified the tracker file on a self-hosted server for Plausible, an open source alternative to Google Analytics, managed by Convertr.
Microsoft has fixed a flaw in its Authenticator app for Android that let a malicious app with no permissions pose as a trusted Microsoft app, such as Teams, and collect sign-in tokens for a victim's work account. Microsoft tracks the flaw as CVE-2026-80097 and fixed it in Authenticator for Android version 6.2606.4246, so anyone using the app should update. In the researchers' tests,
French energy giant ENGIE, one of the world's largest power and natural gas providers, confirmed that attackers stole customer data after breaching a marketing platform used by business partners. ENGIE operates in renewable energy, infrastructure, and customer energy supply in 30 countries, employs over 90,000 people, and reported €71.9 billion in revenue last year. An ENGIE spokesperson told BleepingComputer that it cut off the attackers' access to the compromised platform and that they didn't breach the company's internal systems. "ENGIE's internal IT systems were not compromised. ENGIE recently identified unusual data access activity within a tool used by partners as part of their customer prospecting activities and the marketing of energy offers," the spokesperson said. The ENGIE spokesperson didn't say how many customers were affected, but told BleepingComputer the incident is limited to customers in France.
The University of Copenhagen in Denmark confirmed that hackers accessed one of its test environments containing personal data belonging to 525,000 people. The educational organization detected the breach last Tuesday and disclosed it on Friday. In an update yesterday, the university added another 20,000 staff and students whose PIN codes were exposed. “The University of Copenhagen has confirmed a cyber attack in which hackers gained access to one of the university’s test environments,” the university says. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is Denmark’s oldest university and one of its leading research institutions. It has approximately 36,800 students and 10,700 employees, with six faculties and more than 200 research centers. The University of Copenhagen is still investigating to determine the extent of the incident, but warns that the following information may have been exposed:
Confirm this action.
Leaving now will discard your changes.