Therefore, from time to time you must Clean up copy and paste on Mac To delete history and prevent people from accessing sensitive data. One way to delete clipboard history on Mac is through Terminal commands. For example, open terminal > pbcopy

Clipboard history and data should be protected from those who have access to your computer and cyber criminals. Recently, there have been several high-profile cases of clipboard hijacking. The hijackers were able to access confidential information such as credit card numbers and passwords. Since there is a huge increase in these cases, Opera browser working on clipboard anti-hijacking feature,

What exactly does clipboard data mean?

The copied and pasted information on your data is known as clipboard data. This data is stored in a temporary location on the computer’s hard drive and can be accessed by any app or program.

What is Clipboard Hijacking and How Does it Affect You?

Lately, clipboard hijacking is a term that has been thrown around a lot. But not everyone knows what it means.

Clipboard hijacking is a malicious practice of taking data from victims’ clipboards and using it for nefarious reasons. Typically, cyber criminals take advantage of malware that replaces clipboard data with invalid links or steals data. Furthermore, Flash banner ads or adware are also used by attackers to hijack the clipboard and take over the system.

Some apps that have been caught snooping on clipboard data:

• iOS App Accuweather
• Russia Today
• TIC Toc
• pubg mobile

Clipboard hijacking poses a serious threat to the security of your data and privacy. Anytime you copy and paste confidential data or credentials, such as passwords, bank details, or credit card information, when paying bills online or making purchases online, you may be a victim of clipboard hijacking. Usually, people copy-paste passwords and credentials to the clipboard to speed up the process.

Clipboard hijacking is not only a threat to your sensitive data, but it can modify the OS’s clipboard data for the hijacker’s benefit. For example, say you’ve copied the bank account number of someone you want to send money to, and clipboard malware has changed the account number. So, once you complete the payment, the money is credited to the attacker’s account. That’s why you should always be careful before copying and pasting sensitive information to your computer’s clipboard.

How to stop clipboard hijacking?

You can prevent clipboard hijacking by clearing the clipboard history from your computer, laptop, or mobile devices. This is especially important if the clipboard data contains sensitive information such as your credit card information, bank details, confidential business data, etc.

You can either delete the clipboard regularly or immediately delete any sensitive data you copy pasted. It is essential to remember that the clipboard stores data in plain text, and that is why it is encrypted in some way.

To prevent people with whom you share your computer from accessing your clipboard history, you can create a Guest account. While all your data will be stored in the Administrator account, everyone else can use the Guest account. This will protect your clipboard data, and no one will be able to access them.

Also, make sure that you install only trusted and verified apps and programs on your system. This will save you from becoming a victim of clipboard hijacking.

Tips for companies to stay safe from clipboard-based attacks

Businesses are highly susceptible to clipboard hijacking because employees are constantly copying and pasting items to improve workflow productivity. So, there’s a lot of clipboard history in the company. Here’s how to stay safe.

• Educate employees about clipboard hijacking and its dangers. Educate them about the threats that can potentially steal your business data and cause loss of revenue. This will ensure that employees think twice before copy-pasting sensitive information.
• Implement 2FA or MFA for all confidential data and systems.
• If you use a file-sharing solution, make sure it’s encrypted. All data in transit should be kept secure because your clipboard history is only as secure as the system itself.
• Teach your employees to delete clipboard history so they leave no trace of sensitive information.
• All software and systems should be upgraded so that they have access to the latest security patches and performance enhancements.
• Use virus and malware detection solutions and removal tools to quickly eliminate clipboard-based malware.

conclusion

There are a lot of attackers out there who are constantly trying to steal your data and harm you. Even your clipboard is not safe. Always remember to be vigilant and pay attention to clipboard security.