# Off-Topic Discussion > The Lounge > Tech Talk >  >  Is it possible to get a virus without downloading anything?

## Solarflare

I never download anything, but is there a way i can get viruses, or anything else bad from other things?

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## OldNutter

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

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## Solarflare

oh ok thankies

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## ninja9578

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.

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## khh

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

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## 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.

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## khh

> 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.

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## ninja9578

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.

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## Loaf

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.

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## 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.

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## 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.

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## khh

> 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...

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## OldNutter

> 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.

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## Solarflare

> 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

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## OldNutter

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.

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## Solarflare

really, i didn't know that.

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## slash112

> 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.

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## Solarflare

> Yea, hence what he said is correct.



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

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## EW09

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

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## Marvo

> 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.

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## OldNutter

> 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.

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## LonelyTurtle

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.

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## Highlander

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! :Oh noes:

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## Alric

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.

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## Wolfwood

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.  :smiley: 

Here: Secunia PSI

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## Marvo

IE isn't really that bad, as long as you update it. IE10 is a great browser. Firefox, Chrome and Opera are still leagues ahead of course, but don't say that IE is some virus monster from hell, just because it has Microsoft written on it.

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## OldNutter

IE has actually gotten better.... oddly enough.

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## Alric

Okay it might be a slight exaggeration but sadly not by a lot. It really does have all sorts of problems. I have not used the newest versions, because I got so turned off with the older ones. I am sure they have gotten better, but so have all the others.

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## OldNutter

They are still WAY be hide everyone else, but they have been getting better. Their idea of security is no longer begging asking people not to target their Browser.

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## Wolfwood

As with anything Microsoft, it will be the target of attacks over third-party programs - simply because anything Microsoft is most popular.

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