Can you really get a virus just from going to a webpage?

[yak.h'cir]

Is it really possible to get a virus just by going on an infected site but not clicking anything?

I ask because it appeared that a friend had sent me a link over msn, I clicked it whilst asking what it was. He didn't have a clue what I was talking about and the site turned out to be some crappy dating site, obv I closed it without clicking anything and googled the address, a few pages came up that said by going to it you'd be infected.... I'm not convinced but it's got me worried enough to check further!

I use the latest firefox, I have avast and spybot (both scanning now) and I always keep everything updated. Should I be concerned? Or have I just infected OcUK by coming here?

 

[grudas]

if you dont download anything from the website you wont get viruses at least thats what i think

 

[manic111]

Webpages download to your computer; that's how you view them. Therefore if they have a virus embedded in them, you can get the virus merely by visiting the page.

 

[Avalon]

In theory it's not that hard to trick a browser into allowing code to be exicuted on a system without anything more than a user visiting a page but if you're up to date on security updates and ideally not using IE then the odds are lower. If you also have noscript etc installed with firefox they are even lower

 

[yak.h'cir]

EEP!

Well spybot came back clean, I selected the thorough scan on avast so that's only on 10%... dammit, this is going to have me worried now! I'd change all my passwords but I guess there's not much point if something is still in my computer...

 

[Energize]

Scripts can install malicious code on your computer, so you can get a virus from visiting a webpage. That's why you should have something like noscript installed.

 

[Edinho]

When you view a page it gets cached, so in short yes.

 

[bledd]

msn viruses, you can definatly get infected.

if anyone 'sends' me a virus link, i perma-block them for being a noob

 

[lokkers]

ideally not using IE

Or running with UAC enabled I believe

 

[MarcLister]

Webpages download to your computer; that's how you view them. Therefore if they have a virus embedded in them, you can get the virus merely by visiting the page.

This I think. I've been on sites that seemed OK but NOD32 went crazy about them. Did nothing but load the page up.

 

[OCdude]

Do the free online NOD32 scan: www.eset.com/onlinescan

Tis good

 

[yak.h'cir]

Do the free online NOD32 scan: www.eset.com/onlinescan

Tis good

Will do!

 

[Meridian]

This I think. I've been on sites that seemed OK but NOD32 went crazy about them. Did nothing but load the page up.

A website I'm a mod on was hacked a few months ago, and a link embedded in the title page. When you visit a page, as I understand it, you also visit all the linked pages (which is why you can see the adverts) so you also visited this page - which in turn tried to download a trojan. In this case NOD blocked it.


M

 

[oap]

Easiest way to avoid dodgy web-sites is to avoid on-line porn tbh.

 

[roid]

dude, your no fun

 

[Dolph]

Scripts can install malicious code on your computer, so you can get a virus from visiting a webpage. That's why you should have something like noscript installed.

Or altenatively use protected mode IE (or google chrome, which is currently the only other browser to use protected mode) and then you can keep script functionality while protecting yourself. Using noscript (or turning scripts off in IE/Opera, which does exactly the same thing) is somewhat like never leaving the house so you don't get run over. technically it works but it's far from the best solution.

 

[rickyt]

It's not just porn sites that have virused pages .I recently did a search for holiday resorts in Turkey and came across an official tourist site . My Kapersky went wild and indicated there was 2 infected files .the two files were .gifs [pictures] infected with trojans .

just dug this out for you :

 

[Olibubble]

Yes.