Spyware can infect your phone or computer via the ads you see online: report

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

This mass of data serves as a library of clues for personalised ads, which are sent to you by a sophisticated network — an automated marketplace of advertisers, publishers and ad brokers that operates at lightning speed.

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The ad networks are designed to shield your identity, but companies and governments are able to combine that information with other data, particularly phone location, to identify you and track your movements and online activity.
More invasive yet is spyware — malicious software that a government agent, private investigator or criminal installs on someone's phone or computer without their knowledge or consent.
Spyware lets the user see the contents of the target's device, including calls, texts, email and voicemail.
Some forms of spyware can take control of a phone, including turning on its microphone and camera.
Now, according to an investigative report by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, an Israeli technology company called Insanet has developed the means of delivering spyware via online ad networks, turning some targeted ads into Trojan horses.
According to the report, there's no defence against the spyware, and the Israeli government has given Insanet approval to sell the technology.
Sneaking in unseen
Insanet's spyware, Sherlock, is not the first spyware that can be installed on a phone without the need to trick the phone's owner into clicking