Opera has added a feature to its gaming browser called Paste Protect, which stops at one point most users overlook: the clipboard — what you copy with your keyboard.
The attack it targets
The technique known as ClickFix does not break into your machine; it persuades you to do it yourself. A page tells you something is broken, or that you need to prove you are not a robot, and hands you “the fix”: copy this line and paste it into the run window. The line is an executable command, and the copying happened before you read anything.
What changed
The browser now inspects clipboard content on the machine itself, with nothing uploaded, nothing stored, and no reading of what you normally copy. If it finds an executable command of the kind these attacks use, it blocks the copy outright and shows a warning in the address bar and a pop-up.
Three practical points
- The feature is on by default since 27 August, so nothing needs switching on.
- It can be turned off in settings — a choice for people who work with commands daily, not for the ordinary reader.
- The safest rule stays simpler: no web page fixes a fault with a command you paste yourself. The request is the warning.
Photo: two hands typing on a laptop keyboard. By Shixart1985, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
Source: the official Opera blog, “Opera GX Introduces Paste Protect”, 27 August 2026.
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