Questions tagged [drive-by-download]

A drive by download is a download that occurs as a result of a user merely visiting a website or a download that seeks (and gets) a user's authorization to download but misrepresents what the file is actually going to do.

A drive by download is a download that occurs as a result of a user merely visiting a website or a download that seeks (and gets) a user's authorization to download but misrepresents what the file is actually going to do.

Related reading

36 questions
254
votes
5 answers

Is the save button delay in a Firefox download dialog a security feature? What does it protect?

When I click to download a file through Firefox, a dialog window appears asking me whether I want to save the file somewhere or open it immediately once downloaded. The OK button in the dialog window starts disabled, and doesn't enable until the…
Numeron
  • 2,455
  • 3
  • 15
  • 19
92
votes
4 answers

I was tricked on Facebook into downloading an obfuscated script

I got a notification on Facebook: "(a friend of mine) mentioned you in a comment". However, when I clicked it, Firefox tried to download the following file: comment_24016875.jse This is an obfuscated script which seems to download an executable…
Nacib Neme
  • 1,194
  • 2
  • 9
  • 11
41
votes
7 answers

Can cookies carry viruses?

I was wondering whether a cookie can carry a virus (or any security-threatening code). In some sense it is similar to a download. So by simply visiting a site, could I get harmed?
Mero55
  • 835
  • 1
  • 8
  • 9
28
votes
2 answers

Is there a real possibility of getting malware by “drive-by”?

I know malware can be gotten by downloading and running stuff, but is there a real possibility of just viewing a webpage or clicking a link and getting one? Assuming using only Firefox / Chrome and only the Flash plugin. Perhaps I should rephrase…
Startup1
  • 383
  • 2
  • 5
12
votes
2 answers

Advertisement on Skype tried to download a file to my computer using Javascript

I usually have Skype running in the background. If you have ever used Skype before, you probably know it has advertisements. One of these advertisements made two windows pop up on my screen, asking to download a file. Windows caught it though (for…
Greg M
  • 245
  • 1
  • 8
4
votes
3 answers

Realistically, how likely it is to have a computer compromised from browsing random websites?

Another question inspired by a recent discussion in the 'The DMZ' chatroom. Long story short: IT guys are worried that accountants' workstations may become compromised because accountants watch cat meme websites. Proposed solution: Lock down the…
gaazkam
  • 5,607
  • 11
  • 24
  • 37
4
votes
2 answers

How does drive by downloads work, and what does a browser being "secure" actually mean?

In the last few days I have been researching all the types of viruses and also about the ways of infection. I have also read about the drive by method and my questions are: How is it still possible that the attacker can execute code in browser and…
Tomas
  • 1,331
  • 3
  • 10
  • 10
4
votes
2 answers

Are malicious drive-by-downloads detectable based on file type/mime type?

Drive-by-downloads are automatic downloads without user interaction. We provide a free service for uploading large files and notifying users by email (this one, something like ge.tt or WeTransfer). By default when a user clicks a link in the email…
Uwe Keim
  • 2,686
  • 2
  • 15
  • 25
3
votes
3 answers

Accidentally clicked a phishing link, am I at risk?

I clicked a link from a fake Twitch streamer and now I'm scared of being spied on. I typed my account details but didn't actually sent them because I realized it was a fake link right before clicking enter. Am I at risk from some sort of malicious…
Alex
  • 31
  • 1
  • 2
3
votes
2 answers

Disclosure of end user files or installation of Trojan horses via XSS

I've stumbled upon following examples of XSS attacks on OWASP: Other damaging attacks include the disclosure of end user files, installation of Trojan horse programs... As I know a classic XSS attack that uses JS has very restrictive access (if at…
Evgeny
  • 141
  • 4
3
votes
1 answer

Why is Norton Safe Web flagging my site as dangerous when it reports on PHP files/urls that don't exist?

I'm in a bit of a quandary over Norton Safe Web's rating of my company's website. My question is: is it possible for someone to fool Norton Safe Web into thinking that our website has PHP files which don't exist? Could there be some sort of Spoofing…
Hawkeye
  • 223
  • 2
  • 8
2
votes
3 answers

What are JS malware attack techniques?

Malicious JavaScript (generated by malicious hosted PHP code for example) can lead to attacks. What are the types of attack that malicious javascript could perform? Are the drive-by download attacks the only ones that malicious javaScript…
user52925
2
votes
2 answers

Can visiting Pirate Bay itself give you malware?

So I have a MacBook running High Sierra latest version and I decided to go to the Pirate Bay search engine for the first time just for seeing how it looks and just some research. So I searched for Adobe photoshop for Mac and it showed up I clicked…
nobody user
  • 133
  • 4
2
votes
2 answers

Do malicious downloads bypass integrated browser downloader, if so how does that happen?

I've been reading a lot on here about malicious downloads from browsing sites, drive by downloads, etc, but never heard talk about how the download happens, and how it would bypass the internal download of the browser. In most browsers you will be…
XaolingBao
  • 897
  • 2
  • 9
  • 21
2
votes
2 answers

Disabling downloads in the browser; are there any benefits?

I was playing around with the security settings in my browser (IE) after being attacked by malware. I noticed an option to disable downloads. If I were to disable downloads, and re-enable them when necessary, would this provide more protection for…
Jay
  • 535
  • 5
  • 12
1
2 3