without clicking on anything

without entering any information

how can simply visiting a site download harmful things to my computer?

I'm not infected.. my daughter is.

Scenario:

your friend sends you a link to a website from inside a game. You visit the site. You have no firewall. You have no virus software. You go to the site. You notice it's a "scam site" (her words, not mine) and, leave immediately (without inputting any info, she says). The next time you log into this online game you are soon disconnected and your password has been changed. When you log in again all of your things are gone.

How does this happen just from visiting a website?

first problem: I don't know if she's telling the truth. She may have input info into the site (she's 15)
second problem: I can't enable the firewall.

Question: How does simply going to a website infect your computer? And, how do you stop it?

Thank you

Hi there,

It is quite common for users to become infected by visiting malicious websites. The main cause is scripts and ActiveX controls that may have been installed. Depending on your security settings, you browser may allow malicious scripts to run in the background.

To prevent further infection, you should keep ALL your software up-to-date and if you are using Internet Explorer, I would recommend switching to FireFox and installing the addon NoScript. I have included download links below.

Firefox
NoScript

Hope this helps,
Cornzey

It's not wise to go on the web and not have a firewall and anti virus; or a security program. You are asking for trouble, and you will get trouble. B/C will give lots of info on a lot of free down loads for securityNew Posts Web Browsing/Email and Other Internet Applications. AntiVirus, Firewall and Privacy Products and Protection Methods. This is just two places on this site that will help you. When you use these sites you might decide to buy a internet security program. IMO you must have security to enjoy www.

It is known as "Drive By Downloading"
Here is a link to a very informative article:
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/uiuc/dbd-anatomy.htm

Follow cornzey's advice and switch to Firefox and install the NoScript extension.
Also look into AntiVirus such as the free and reliable AVG.
http://free.avg.com/

Thanks. I already switched her to firefox and reinstalled windows xp I did not know that over a year ago someone had disabled her firewall. When I found out and went to enable it, I couldn't. In fact, I couldn't do alot of things. I couldn't unistall programs, etc. Then, I noticed that her antivirus was not set up to update at ALL.

After that, I updated avg, ran the Kaspersky online tool, ran hijack this, the problems were just too many... I'm sure EVENTUALLY I could have found and fixed each problem but... it's a 15 yr old girl's computer. I decided to have her save her "sacred" things (music and pictures to a 15 yr old girl is sacred) on a jump drive and then I formatted her drive and just reinstalled windows XP.

My questions now are these....
#1. Is she protected now?
She has a clean install of windows xp. I have told her to use Firefox. Her firewall (windows firewall) is enabled, and her AVG (free) updates every day at 3 A.M. and scans).

#2. Can she visit websites without worry?
Now that her virus definitions are up-to-date and her firewall is enabled is it safe to visit websites?

#3 If she goes to a malicious website, is she still vulnerable?
I'm not talking about clicking "yes" on anything. She CLAIMS that she simply went to the website. I have no way to know if this is true or not. She could have clicked on a "yes" box. She could have even input her info. But, she SAYS she didn't. She says she immediately exed out.

Are we good?

#1. More so now than she was.

#2. That depends on the websites that she visits. Malicious sites can be dangerous no matter what Protection you are using.

#3. Yes!

I'm not a pro but I would suggest searching the pinned topics found here: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/forum25.html
For more info on how to surf safely, especially the "Best Practices - Internet Safety For 2008" thread!
Good luck!

Many times it's not malicious websites but banner ads on legit sites. One site very popular with teens that has had malicious ad banners is Facebook. One way to combat this is to be sure Windows Updates is done regularly as many of the malicious ads are attacking systems that aren't updated. Make sure Auto Update is activated.