When a website tells you to 'copy this command to fix the issue,' it might be trying to fix you right into a compromised computer. These are called ClickFix attacks, as ZDNET's Charlie Osborne explains, and they're basically the digital equivalent of a stranger asking you to hold their wallet.

Opera's developers have created Paste Protect, a feature that detects and blocks malicious clipboard content before you can paste it into a terminal or command prompt. According to Opera, a ClickFix attack often starts with something mundane - a video that won't play or a CAPTCHA that won't verify you're human - and then offers a 'fix' that involves pasting a command. Once run, your computer is compromised.

Over half of malware-loading cyber attacks in 2025 were of the ClickFix type, and fake CAPTCHA attacks spiked by 563% last year. These attacks sidestep nearly all existing defenses because antivirus and email filters check for external threats, not commands typed or pasted by the user.

'ClickFix attacks succeed because they turn the user into the weapon,' said Pawel Kurzelewski, head of security at Opera. 'The clipboard is the last point before a malicious command is run, so that's where we built our defense.'

Opera actually released a feature with the same name back in 2021, but that one prevented external apps from hijacking your copied content. The new Paste Protect adds an Injection Protection layer that detects and blocks malicious commands copied from a website or injected into your clipboard before they're pasted into Terminal or Command Prompt.

The feature monitors clipboard activity in real time, tailored for Linux, macOS, and Windows to spot patterns associated with known malicious scripts. If detected, a warning pops up with a red icon in the address bar, and users can only see the first 120 characters of the blocked content. It's activated by default and allows whitelisting of trusted websites.

Opera is the first browser to have this functionality built in, which is nice and all, but maybe still think twice before pasting random commands into your terminal - even if Opera has your back.