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Can you get a virus from visiting a website
April 12, 2008
Yes you can get a virus by just going to a website. But not everyone who visits the bad website will get the virus. It all depends on which exploit the site is using and how up to date your Windows machine is.
There are several ways a computer can get a virus or spyware from a website. The first one is known as a “drive by download”. A virus or spyware infects the computer without any action from the user. This method usually uses exploits in web browsers and Internet Explorer is usually the target.
The second method tricks the user into installing the virus or spyware. The site will claim the user must download a player, codec, Active-X control or some type of plugin for the site to function properly. If the user agrees and download/install the “file” he or she will get infected by the virus or spyware. You may not even know you are getting infected and just move on.
If your computer is patched with the latest Windows Updates and you are using the most current web browser you should be pretty safe from “drive by download”. Some common sense is needed to avoid the second one.
Topics: Virus Spyware Malware |
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