Thread: Is it possible to get a virus without downloading anything?

yes. Drive by downloads. If you go to a site, it can download a virus.

oh ok thankies

Yes. You download every single time you view a website. It's the browser's job to filter out the crap as well as your job to only view trusted sites.

Yes, it's possible. But as long as you're not using Internet Explorer on Windows or Safari on Mac, the chances are low.

Safari uses Chrome's sandboxing technique, you mean Firefox on Mac. But even with Firefox, the odds of getting one are very low. Internet Explorer is the only modern web browser that you really need to avoid, most protect very well. I wouldn't be surprised if Firefox is also adopting the sandboxing technique.

Originally Posted by ninja9578

Safari uses Chrome's sandboxing technique, you mean Firefox on Mac. But even with Firefox, the odds of getting one are very low. Internet Explorer is the only modern web browser that you really need to avoid, most protect very well. I wouldn't be surprised if Firefox is also adopting the sandboxing technique.

No, I meant what I said. If you make a hack targeting Macs, most likely you'd target it at Safari as that's the most common browser. And it's not immune, as is demonstrated every year at the black hat convention, or whatever it's called.

Oh, you mean because it's the most common? Oh okay, yeah I could see that. Nothing is hackproof, Safari 4's known holes were fixed in Safari 5 though.

Don't forget using portable hard drives or USB sticks, that could be infected by other users. Floppy discs can also carry iffy things (but I doubt you'll be using those). In rare occasions, its also been known that factories of electronics have been targeted and have accidentally distributed CDs or hardware (like storage devices) with a virus on. Just something to think about.

Technically it's impossible to get a virus if you're not downloading, unless of course you get it from a mobile storage device.

Or you make one yourself.

And if you are worried about viruses I recommend you download Microsoft Security Essentials. Other than that it's best to use Chrome or Firefox as your webbrowser since both programs notifies if a site might be insecure. If you already use one of those browsers you should download Adblock since a lot of ads direct you to strange sites.

Originally Posted by Morten

And if you are worried about viruses I recommend you download Microsoft Security Essentials. Other than that it's best to use Chrome or Firefox as your webbrowser since both programs notifies if a site might be insecure. If you already use one of those browsers you should download Adblock since a lot of ads direct you to strange sites.

Opera does that as well. Why does everyone always leave out Opera? It's making me sad...

Originally Posted by Marvo

Technically it's impossible to get a virus if you're not downloading, unless of course you get it from a mobile storage device.

Or you make one yourself.

What? Yes it is. Drive by downloads. That's active X and java script are so damn terrible. there are always things happening behide the scenes.

Originally Posted by OldSparta

What? Yes it is. Drive by downloads. That's active X and java script are so damn terrible. there are always things happening behide the scenes.

drive by DOWNLOADS

Touche, but still. It'll download itself through the background. No user interaction required. And you are essentially ALWAYS downloading things the moment you connect to the internet.

really, i didn't know that.

Originally Posted by OldSparta

Touche, but still. It'll download itself through the background. No user interaction required. And you are essentially ALWAYS downloading things the moment you connect to the internet.

Yea, hence what he said is correct.

Originally Posted by slash112

Yea, hence what he said is correct.

yeah, i was just saying that technically they still are downloads.

Technically without downloading anything? Yes, one could manually put it on your computer. Otherwise, every time you visit a website you download stuff.

Originally Posted by OldSparta

What? Yes it is. Drive by downloads. That's active X and java script are so damn terrible. there are always things happening behide the scenes.

I'm not even sure "drive by downloads" is a term. Downloading is downloading, whether the user explicitly tells the computer to do it or not. As has been said, the moment a typical computer is hooked up to the internet, it will start downloading all kinds of things behind the scenes.

Originally Posted by Marvo

I'm not even sure "drive by downloads" is a term. Downloading is downloading, whether the user explicitly tells the computer to do it or not. As has been said, the moment a typical computer is hooked up to the internet, it will start downloading all kinds of things behind the scenes.

Drive-by download - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Its a term for downloading viruses when you access a site or something.

Yeah, its possible but it isnt very likely, browsers typically filter them out, antivirus and antispyware programs tend to notify you and block them, and they get reported as attack sites, and major advertising programs don't allow them to be advertised on webpages; so I wouldn't worry about it too much.

I would have to agree & say 'yes'.
I usually clear all the 'crap' out of the (Windows Explorer) Temporary Internet Folder after a browsing session. (You can set it to automatically do this, I think?) Also one main area of attack is of course your Email box, etc.
One of my bone of contentions is when your computer decides to run 'updates' which are basically (usually automatic) downloads from Microsoft, Symantec (if Norton's installed) & Google, for example. Especially when they try to run all at once! (Slooowww...)
'Google updater.exe' is a pain in the ass!

Internet explorer sucks, I think internet explorer can download viruses even if you never use it. Since IE is like a horrible monster that has stuck its evil tentacles into everything on your computer, and it might pop up in the background because you ran something totally unrelated, and then once it is open its extremely vulnerable.

I made a vow to always uninstall then delete, the manually delete all IE files on my computer. I don't know if it is that bad, but it sure seems like it sometimes. Also I am pretty sure you can't totally get rid of it, since its like hardwired into the operating system or something.

Yes - through software vulnerabilities, usually caused from not keeping software up to date.

Secunia PSI scans your computer and identifies which programs have potential weaknesses, and offers on the spot updates for those programs. Oh, and the program is free. Been using for years.

Here: Secunia PSI