{"id":4258,"date":"2025-03-31T11:54:36","date_gmt":"2025-03-31T19:54:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/?post_type=ht_kb&#038;p=4258"},"modified":"2025-04-09T17:14:22","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T01:14:22","slug":"what-are-drive-by-downloads","status":"publish","type":"ht_kb","link":"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/art\/what-are-drive-by-downloads\/","title":{"rendered":"What are drive-by downloads?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Drive-by downloads<\/strong> are files that download to your device without your knowledge or consent, often just by visiting a compromised or <a href=\"\/faq\/art\/what-are-malicious-websites\/\">malicious website<\/a>. Unlike software you intentionally choose to download, these happen in the background\u2014no clicks required. They can install <a href=\"\/security-center\/malware.html\">malware<\/a>, <a href=\"\/security-center\/spyware.html\">spyware<\/a>, or other unwanted programs. Keeping your browser, plugins, and antivirus software up to date helps protect against them.<\/p>\n<p>A well-known example is the <a href=\"\/faq\/art\/what-are-exploit-kits-such-as-angler-and-nuclear\/\"><strong>Angler Exploit Kit<\/strong><\/a>, which was widely used around 2015\u20132016. Hackers would compromise legitimate websites or use <a href=\"\/faq\/art\/what-is-malvertising\/\">malicious ads (malvertising)<\/a> to redirect visitors to a page that secretly scanned their system for vulnerabilities\u2014usually in outdated software like Flash, Java, or Internet Explorer. If it found a weakness, it would silently download and install malware, often <a href=\"\/security-center\/ransomware.html\">ransomware<\/a> or <a href=\"\/security-center\/trojans.html\">banking trojans<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Victims didn\u2019t have to click anything\u2014just loading the page was enough. This made drive-by downloads especially dangerous and hard to detect until it was too late.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Drive-by downloads are files that download to your device without your knowledge or consent, often just by visiting a compromised or malicious website. Unlike software you intentionally choose to download, these happen in the background\u2014no clicks required. They can install malware, spyware, or other unwanted programs. Keeping your browser, plugins, and antivirus software up to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"ht-kb-category":[12],"ht-kb-tag":[514],"class_list":["post-4258","ht_kb","type-ht_kb","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","ht_kb_category-threats-vulnerabilities","ht_kb_tag-drive-by-download"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What are drive-by downloads?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/art\/what-are-drive-by-downloads\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What are drive-by downloads?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Drive-by downloads are files that download to your device without your knowledge or consent, often just by visiting a compromised or malicious website. Unlike software you intentionally choose to download, these happen in the background\u2014no clicks required. They can install malware, spyware, or other unwanted programs. Keeping your browser, plugins, and antivirus software up to [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/art\/what-are-drive-by-downloads\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Antivirus and Security Software FAQs &amp; Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-10T01:14:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/antivirusaz-faq-blog-logo.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1536\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.antivirusaz.com\\\/faq\\\/art\\\/what-are-drive-by-downloads\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.antivirusaz.com\\\/faq\\\/art\\\/what-are-drive-by-downloads\\\/\",\"name\":\"What are drive-by downloads?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.antivirusaz.com\\\/faq\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-31T19:54:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-10T01:14:22+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.antivirusaz.com\\\/faq\\\/art\\\/what-are-drive-by-downloads\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.antivirusaz.com\\\/faq\\\/art\\\/what-are-drive-by-downloads\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.antivirusaz.com\\\/faq\\\/art\\\/what-are-drive-by-downloads\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.antivirusaz.com\\\/faq\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What are drive-by downloads?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.antivirusaz.com\\\/faq\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.antivirusaz.com\\\/faq\\\/\",\"name\":\"Antivirus and Security Software FAQs & Blog\",\"description\":\"Frequently asked questions about antivirus and security software, and other computer security related issues.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.antivirusaz.com\\\/faq\\\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"AntivirusAZ.com FAQs & Blog\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.antivirusaz.com\\\/faq\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.antivirusaz.com\\\/faq\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"AntiVirusAZ.com\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.antivirusaz.com\\\/faq\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.antivirusaz.com\\\/faq\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.antivirusaz.com\\\/faq\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/antivirusaz-faq-blog-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.antivirusaz.com\\\/faq\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/antivirusaz-faq-blog-logo.png\",\"width\":1536,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"AntiVirusAZ.com\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.antivirusaz.com\\\/faq\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What are drive-by downloads?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/art\/what-are-drive-by-downloads\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What are drive-by downloads?","og_description":"Drive-by downloads are files that download to your device without your knowledge or consent, often just by visiting a compromised or malicious website. Unlike software you intentionally choose to download, these happen in the background\u2014no clicks required. They can install malware, spyware, or other unwanted programs. Keeping your browser, plugins, and antivirus software up to [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/art\/what-are-drive-by-downloads\/","og_site_name":"Antivirus and Security Software FAQs &amp; Blog","article_modified_time":"2025-04-10T01:14:22+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1536,"height":512,"url":"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/antivirusaz-faq-blog-logo.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/art\/what-are-drive-by-downloads\/","url":"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/art\/what-are-drive-by-downloads\/","name":"What are drive-by downloads?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-03-31T19:54:36+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-10T01:14:22+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/art\/what-are-drive-by-downloads\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/art\/what-are-drive-by-downloads\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/art\/what-are-drive-by-downloads\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What are drive-by downloads?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/","name":"Antivirus and Security Software FAQs & Blog","description":"Frequently asked questions about antivirus and security software, and other computer security related issues.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/#organization"},"alternateName":"AntivirusAZ.com FAQs & Blog","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/#organization","name":"AntiVirusAZ.com","url":"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/antivirusaz-faq-blog-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/antivirusaz-faq-blog-logo.png","width":1536,"height":512,"caption":"AntiVirusAZ.com"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ht-kb\/4258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ht-kb"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/ht_kb"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4258"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ht-kb\/4258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4340,"href":"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ht-kb\/4258\/revisions\/4340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"ht_kb_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ht-kb-category?post=4258"},{"taxonomy":"ht_kb_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ht-kb-tag?post=4258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}