ClickFix attacks infecting PCs and Macs are going viral

Simplicity—combined with the difficulty of getting stuff done—makes ClickFix ideal. ClickFix attacks infecting PCs and Macs are going viral. Text settings Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only Learn more Minimize to nav It wasn’t that long ago that ClickFix attacks were exotic.

Now the technique has become mainstream as attackers reap its simplicity and effectiveness in infecting users of PCs and Macs alike. All that’s required is a compromised website—a painless enough task—a fake CAPTCHA overlay, and the inclusion of a single terminal command. So many visitors get suckered into pasting and running the command that just about every malware pusher has adopted the technique.

Even Kremlin-backed hacking groups are joining in. “Reddit is becoming post after post after post of people getting their computer infected via ClickFix,” independent researcher Kevin Beaumont observed Thursday. “Legit websites everywhere [are] getting hacked to serve the fake captcha prompts.” How many of us make things worse More seasoned Internet users—a fair number who read this site—are quick to dismiss the attack.

They typically blame the people who fall for the scams and marvel at their gullibility and lack of attention.