How can I get a virus by just visiting a website?

Posted by Janet Jacobs on Super User See other posts from Super User or by Janet Jacobs
Published on 2011-06-27T18:01:56Z Indexed on 2011/06/28 0:24 UTC
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security

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browser

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website

It is common knowledge that you can get a virus just by visiting a website. But how is this possible?

Do these viruses attack Windows, Mac and Linux users, or are Mac/Linux users immune?

I understand that I obviously can get a virus by downloading and executing a .exe in Windows but how can I get a virus just by accessing a website?

Are the viruses programmed in JavaScript? (It would make sense since it is a programming language that runs locally.) If so, what JavaScript functions are the ones commonly used?

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