GlossaryIntermediate
Clipboard Hijacking
Malware that silently replaces a copied wallet address with an attacker's address before it's pasted.
Clipboard hijacking is a malware technique that monitors a device's clipboard and silently replaces a copied crypto wallet address with an attacker-controlled one, before the user pastes it into a transfer form.
Because wallet addresses are long strings most people don't read carefully character-by-character, this substitution can go unnoticed until funds have already been sent to the wrong, attacker-controlled address.
Examples
- Clipboard hijacking is one reason security guidance recommends visually double-checking at least the first and last few characters of a pasted address before confirming a transfer.
- A device infected with clipboard-hijacking malware can silently compromise every crypto transfer made on it, not just a single transaction.