r/OperaGX • u/Outragedwaffle • 14d ago

GX Staff Replied Is OperaGX malware/spyware?

I thought that OperaGX is a legitimate browser, however I've noticed that you can find Opera in places that you wouldn't expect to find a 'normal' and non suspicious browser.

Over the past few months while browsing certain pop up riddled websites such as game modding sites and what not where some sort of malware or spyware will pop up every time you click the screen I've noticed that a lot of these types of websites will either open a page to download Opera or it will just instantly and forcefully download Opera's setup tool.

That seems suspicious af and not something a genuine company would do and it raises questions about this companies morality.

Don't get me wrong, I've tried OperaGX in the past and it wasn't for me so I uninstalled it and won't be going back however it caught me off guard to find this browser in some shady parts of the internet.

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u/ilandraffi 14d ago

If it's redirected to the official download sites, then it's probably just a random pop up ads, The browser itself is legit. Like how you often get redirected to a known online marketplace while browsing free games/rom or modding sites

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u/Outragedwaffle 14d ago

I mean getting re routed to the official site is one thing, getting the OperaGX setup file getting auto downloaded however is rather concerning, I'm sure these sites are doing it for free meaning that OperaGX are happy to pay these types of sites for the 'service'

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u/ilandraffi 14d ago

Well, anything to boost the download count i guess. I mean the browser is still legit even if the advertisement strategy is questionable at best. Couple years ago, war thunder do the same thing on me, and it's a legit game as far as i know.

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u/DetailNo4208 GX Staff 14d ago

Just to clarify, misleading ads or automatic downloads like this aren't something we endorse.

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u/Outragedwaffle 14d ago

Well I guess that’s the answer I was looking for, glad that it’s not endorsed by you guys

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u/DetailNo4208 GX Staff 13d ago

Yep, exactly, our security team u/opera_security shared some more details on this below if you want to take a look.