How to Detect Clipboard Hijacking, Copy-Paste in Android Apps Using AI

Last updated February 6, 2025 by Appdome

This Knowledge Base article describes how to use Appdome’s AI/ML in your CI/CD pipeline to continuously deliver plugins that Detect Clipboard Hijacking in Mobile apps.

What is Clipboard Hijacking?

Clipboard hijacking on Android involves attackers intercepting data copied to the clipboard, such as login credentials or payment details. Malware like Clipper or FantaClipper monitors clipboard activity to replace or steal sensitive information, such as cryptocurrency wallet addresses, potentially leading to fraud or financial loss. With the rise of AI-based agents, clipboard access might become integral to Android systems, enabling automated clipboard monitoring that complicates the distinction between legitimate and malicious clipboard access. Preventing clipboard hijacking supports compliance with security standards like PCI DSS, which mandate secure handling of payment information.

How Appdome Protects Against Android Apps Against Clipboard Hijacking?

Appdome’s dynamic Detect Clipboard Hijacking plugin for Android apps safeguards against unauthorized access to clipboard data. It monitors for malicious applications attempting to read or modify clipboard contents without user consent. The plugin detects suspicious behaviors, such as background clipboard access by malicious malware like “Clipboard Manager” or “Clipper,” which can be exploited for data theft. Upon detection, it can automatically disable specific app functionalities, log the event, or terminate the session, ensuring the app operates securely and maintains data integrity.

Prerequisites for Using Appdome's Detect Clipboard Hijacking Plugins:

To use Appdome’s mobile app security build system to Detect Clipboard Hijacking , you’ll need:

How to Implement Detect Clipboard Hijacking in Mobile Apps Using Appdome

On Appdome, follow these 3 simple steps to create self-defending Mobile Apps that Detect Clipboard Hijacking without an SDK or gateway:

  1. Designate the Mobile App to be protected.

    1. Upload an app via the Appdome Mobile Defense platform GUI or via Appdome’s DEV-API or CI/CD Plugins.

    2. Mobile App Formats: .ipa for iOS, or .apk or .aab for Android
    3. Detect Clipboard Hijacking is compatible with: Obj-C, Java, JS, C#, C++, Swift, Kotlin, Flutter, React Native, Unity, Xamarin, and more.
  2. Select the defense: Detect Clipboard Hijacking.

      1. Create and name the Fusion Set (security template) that will contain the Detect Clipboard Hijacking feature as shown below:
        fusion set that contains Detect Clipboard Hijacking

        Figure 1: Fusion Set that will contain the Detect Clipboard Hijacking feature

      2. Follow the steps in Sections 2.2-2.2.2 of this article to add the Detect Clipboard Hijacking feature to your Fusion Set via the Appdome Console.

      3. When you select the Detect Clipboard Hijacking you'll notice that the Fusion Set you created in step 2.1 now bears the icon of the protection category that contains Detect Clipboard Hijacking.

        Fusion Set applied Detect Clipboard Hijacking

        Figure 2: Fusion Set that displays the newly added Detect Clipboard Hijacking protection
        Note: Annotating the Fusion Set to identify the protection(s) selected is optional only (not mandatory).

      4. Open the Fusion Set Detail Summary by clicking the “...” symbol on the far-right corner of the Fusion Set. Copy the Fusion Set ID from the Fusion Set Detail Summary (as shown below): fusion Set Detail Summary image

        Figure 3: Fusion Set Detail Summary

      5. Follow the instructions below to use the Fusion Set ID inside any standard mobile DevOps or CI/CD toolkit like Bitrise, Jenkins, Travis, Team City, Circle CI or other system:
        1. Refer to the Appdome API Reference Guide for API building instructions.
        2. Look for sample APIs in Appdome’s GitHub Repository.
    1. Add the Detect Clipboard Hijacking feature to your security template.

      1. Navigate to Build > Anti ATO tab > Mobile Account Protection section in the Appdome Console.
      2. Toggle On > Detect Clipboard Hijacking.

        (a) Choose to monitor this attack vector by checking the Threat Events checkbox associated with Detect Clipboard Hijacking as shown below.

        (b) To receive mobile Threat Monitoring, check the ThreatScope™ box as shown below. For more details, see our knowledge base article on ThreatScope™ Mobile XDR.
        Detect Clipboard Hijacking option

        Figure 4: Selecting Detect Clipboard Hijacking

      3. Select the Threat-Event™ in-app mobile Threat Defense and Intelligence policy for Detect Clipboard Hijacking:
        1. Threat-Events™ OFF > In-App Defense

          If the Threat-Events™ setting is not selected. Appdome will detect and defend the user and app by enforcing Clipboard Hijacking.

        2. Threat-Events™ ON > In-App Defense

          When this setting is used, Appdome detects and defends against Clipboard Hijacking (same as Appdome Enforce) and passes Appdome’s Threat-Event™ attack intelligence to the app’s business logic for processing. For more information on consuming and using Appdome Threat-Events™ in the app, see section Using Threat-Events™ for Detect Clipboard HijackingDetect Intelligence and Control in Mobile Apps.

    2. Initiate the build command either by clicking Build My App at the bottom of the Build Workflow (shown in Figure 4) or via your CI/CD as described in Section 2.1.4.
    Congratulations!  The Detect Clipboard Hijacking protection is now added to the mobile app
  3. Certify the Detect Clipboard Hijacking feature in Mobile Apps

    After building Detect Clipboard Hijacking, Appdome generates a Certified Secure™ certificate to guarantee that the Detect Clipboard Hijacking protection has been added and is protecting the app. To verify that the Detect Clipboard Hijacking protection has been added to the mobile app, locate the protection in the Certified Secure™ certificate as shown below: Detect Clipboard Hijacking shown in Certificate secure

    Figure 5: Certified Secure™ certificate

    Each Certified Secure™ certificate provides DevOps and DevSecOps organizations the entire workflow summary, audit trail of each build, and proof of protection that Detect Clipboard Hijacking has been added to each Mobile app. Certified Secure provides instant and in-line DevSecOps compliance certification that Detect Clipboard Hijacking and other mobile app security features are in each build of the mobile app.

Using Threat-Events™ for Clipboard Hijacking Intelligence and Control in Mobile Apps

Appdome Threat-Events™ provides consumable in-app mobile app attack intelligence and defense control when Clipboard Hijacking is detected. To consume and use Threat-Events™ for Clipboard Hijacking in Mobile Apps, use AddObserverForName in Notification Center, and the code samples for Threat-Events™ for Clipboard Hijacking shown below.

The specifications and options for Threat-Events™ for Clipboard Hijacking are:

Threat-Event™ Elements Detect Clipboard Hijacking Method Detail
Appdome Feature Name Detect Clipboard Hijacking
Threat-Event Mode
OFF, IN-APP DEFENSE Appdome detects, defends and notifies user (standard OS dialog) using customizable messaging.
ON, IN-APP DETECTION Appdome detects the attack or threat and passes the event in a standard format to the app for processing (app chooses how and when to enforce).
ON, IN-APP DEFENSE Uses Appdome Enforce mode for any attack or threat and passes the event in a standard format to the app for processing (gather intel on attacks and threats without losing any protection).
Certified Secure™ Threat Event Check
Visible in ThreatScope™
Developer Parameters for Detecting Clipboard Hijacking Threat-Event™
Threat-Event NAME BlockedClipboardEvent
Threat-Event DATA reasonData
Threat-Event CODE reasonCode
Threat-Event REF 8520
Threat-Event SCORE
currentThreatEventScore Current Threat-Event score
threatEventsScore Total Threat-events score
Threat-Event Context Keys
message Message displayed for the user on event
failSafeEnforce Timed enforcement against the identified threat
externalID The external ID of the event which can be listened via Threat Events
osVersion OS version of the current device
deviceModel Current device model
deviceManufacturer The manufacturer of the current device
fusedAppToken The task ID of the Appdome fusion of the currently running app
kernelInfo Info about the kernel: system name, node name, release, version and machine.
carrierPlmn PLMN of the device. Only available for Android devices.
deviceID Current device ID
reasonCode Reason code of the occurred event
buildDate Appdome fusion date of the current application
devicePlatform OS name of the current device
carrierName Carrier name of the current device. Only available for Android.
updatedOSVersion Is the OS version up to date
deviceBrand Brand of the device
deviceBoard Board of the device
buildUser Build user
buildHost Build host
sdkVersion Sdk version
timeZone Time zone
deviceFaceDown Is the device face down
locationLong Location longitude conditioned by location permission
locationLat Location latitude conditioned by location permission
locationState Location state conditioned by location permission
wifiSsid Wifi SSID
wifiSsidPermissionStatus Wifi SSID permission status
threatCode The last six characters of the threat code specify the OS, allowing the Threat Resolution Center to address the attack on the affected device.
blocked Is the clipboard blocked
action Clipboard action

With Threat-Events™ enabled (turned ON), Mobile developers can get detailed attack intelligence and granular defense control in Mobile applications and create amazing user experiences for all mobile end users when Clipboard Hijacking is detected.


The following is a code sample for native Mobile apps, which uses all values in the specification above for Detect Clipboard Hijacking:


Important! Replace all placeholder instances of <Context Key> with the specific name of your threat event context key across all language examples. This is crucial to ensure your code functions correctly with the intended event data. For example, The <Context Key> could be the message, externalID, OS Version, reason code, etc.



Using Appdome, there are no development or coding prerequisites to build secured Apps by using Detect Clipboard Hijacking. There is no SDK and no library to code or implement in the app and no gateway to deploy in your network. All protections are built into each app and the resulting app is self-defending and self-protecting.

Releasing and Publishing Mobile Apps with Detect Clipboard Hijacking

After successfully securing your app by using Appdome, there are several available options to complete your project, depending on your app lifecycle or workflow. These include:

Related Articles:

How Do I Learn More?

If you have any questions, please send them our way at support.appdome.com or via the chat window on the Appdome platform.

Thank you!

Thanks for visiting Appdome! Our mission is to secure every app on the planet by making mobile app security easy. We hope we’re living up to the mission with your project.

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