ClickFix: The Deceptive Social Engineering Technique Threatening Houston Businesses

ClickFix is a sophisticated social engineering technique that first emerged in early 2024 and has quickly gained popularity among cybercriminals. This deceptive tactic tricks users into executing malicious code on their systems by having them browse seemingly legitimate but compromised websites that display pop-ups prompting users to press buttons like “Fix It” or “I am not a robot.”

  How ClickFix Works

The method is deceptively simple yet highly effective. When a user visits a compromised site, they are presented with a fake CAPTCHA screen or error message. After clicking on buttons labeled “I’m not a robot” or “Fix It,” the user is shown “Verification Steps” that instruct them to press key combinations like Windows + R to open the Run dialog box, followed by CTRL + V and Enter.

The ClickFix tactic deceives users into downloading and running malware on their machines without involving a web browser for download or requiring manual file execution. It makes it possible to bypass web browser security features, such as Google Safe Browsing, and appears less suspicious to unsuspecting corporate and individual users.

What makes this attack particularly insidious is that behind the scenes, the malicious website silently creates a temporary textarea element, populates it with malicious code, and automatically copies that value to the user’s clipboard. Once copying is complete, the temporary text area is removed from the document, leaving no visible indication of the action. When users follow the instructions to paste the clipboard content, they unknowingly execute malicious code that installs malware.

  Real-World Examples of ClickFix Exploitation

Cybercriminals have employed various methods to trick users into visiting ClickFix sites:

1. ClearFake Campaign: In May 2024, ClearFake (a threat activity cluster) adopted ClickFix as their attack vector. They have infected at least 9,300 websites with their malicious code, using fake reCAPTCHA or Cloudflare Turnstile verifications as lures to trick users into downloading malware such as Lumma Stealer and Vidar Stealer.
2. Fake Google Meet Pages: Multiple websites were discovered masquerading as Google Meet video conference homepages. These sites displayed pop-up windows falsely indicating problems with microphones and headsets. When users clicked the “Try Fix” button, malicious commands were copied to their clipboard that, when executed, downloaded malware like Stealc and Rhadamanthys infostealers.
3. Email Phishing Campaigns: Threat actor TA571 conducted extensive phishing campaigns using HTML attachments disguised as Microsoft Word documents. These attachments showed error messages claiming that “Word Online” extension wasn’t installed and provided instructions for “fixing” the issue, which led to malware installation.
4. GitHub Issues Campaign: A large phishing campaign targeted developers by creating issues that falsely claimed security vulnerabilities in source code. These GitHub issues redirected users to download Lumma Stealer via fake CAPTCHA webpages, impacting thousands of public code repositories and exploiting developers’ trust in GitHub notifications.

  Malware Delivered by ClickFix

Since its emergence in 2024, ClickFix has been observed in numerous attack campaigns, primarily as a vector for delivering infostealer malware. Lumma Stealer is the most frequently distributed malware in analyzed incidents.

Other malware distributed through ClickFix includes:

• DarkGate
• AsyncRAT
• Vidar Stealer
• NetSupport RAT
• Rhadamanthys
• AMOS Stealer
• Stealc

  Protecting Your Business from ClickFix Attacks

To safeguard your organization against ClickFix threats, consider implementing these security measures:

1. User Education: Conduct regular training sessions to educate users about social engineering tactics and phishing schemes. Make sure employees understand that legitimate services will never ask them to copy-paste commands into their command prompt or Run box.
2. Email Security: Implement robust email filtering to block phishing emails and malicious attachments. This serves as your first line of defense against initial ClickFix delivery methods.
3. Web Filtering: Use web filtering solutions to prevent access to known malicious websites. This can block connections to ClickFix infrastructure even if an employee clicks a malicious link.
4. Endpoint Protection: Install and maintain updated anti-virus and anti-malware software on all endpoints. Modern solutions can detect and block suspicious script execution.
5. Network Security: Deploy firewalls and intrusion detection/prevention systems (IDS/IPS) to monitor and block malicious network traffic. Use network segmentation to limit the spread of malware within the organization.
6. Access Control: Enforce the principle of least privilege (PoLP) to minimize user access to only necessary resources. This limits the damage that can be done if a system is compromised.
7. Multi-Factor Authentication: Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) for accessing sensitive systems and data. This provides an additional security layer even if credentials are stolen.
8. Patch Management: Ensure all operating systems, software, and applications are kept up to date with the latest security patches. Many attacks exploit known vulnerabilities.
9. Monitoring and Analysis: Continuously monitor and analyze system and network logs for signs of compromise. Early detection can minimize damage.
10. Data Protection: Encrypt sensitive data both in transit and at rest to protect it from unauthorized access. Regularly back up important data and store backups securely to ensure data recovery in case of a ransomware attack or data breach.

 How CinchOps Can Help

Defending against sophisticated threats like ClickFix requires a comprehensive security approach. CinchOps provides end-to-end cybersecurity solutions that protect your business at every level:

1. Advanced Threat Detection: Our cutting-edge tools detect and block ClickFix attempts before they reach your employees, monitoring web traffic for suspicious patterns and blocking known malicious domains.
2. Employee Security Training: We provide customized training programs that educate your team about the latest threats, including simulated phishing exercises that test awareness of tactics like ClickFix.
3. 24/7 Security Monitoring: Our security operations center continuously monitors your network for suspicious activities, providing immediate response to potential threats.
4. Endpoint Protection: Our comprehensive endpoint security solutions prevent malicious scripts from executing, even if a user inadvertently attempts to run them.
5. Security Assessments: We conduct regular security assessments to identify vulnerabilities in your systems before they can be exploited by attackers.
6. Incident Response: In the event of a breach, our expert team provides rapid incident response to contain the threat, remove malware, and restore normal operations.
7. Policy Development: We help establish security policies and procedures that minimize the risk of social engineering attacks.

Discover more about our enterprise-grade and business protecting cybersecurity services on our Cybersecurity page.

Don’t wait until after a breach to strengthen your security posture. Contact CinchOps today to learn how our comprehensive security solutions can protect your business from emerging threats like ClickFix and keep your sensitive data safe from cybercriminals.

FREE CYBERSECURITY ASSESSMENT