Can someone else access Web sites through my computer?

Is it possible for someone to access sites when i'm online ? Sites have appeared in the history of my mothers computer that i was using but did not access. As you can imagine these weren't particularly desirable sites.It also mentioned about inserting a disk something else i just didn't do. Is it possible to hack somehow whilst i'm online ? at the time i was using google and visiting sites such as myspace and bebo! I would really appreciate your help as it's caused quite an argument but i genuinely did not access these sites.

Dave's Answer:

First off, I believe you. I can think of a couple of ways that you can end up with sites in your browser history though you never actually went to them, or, to be more accurate, were never aware that you were visiting.

The most likely explanation is that there are pop-under advertising windows from those sites being triggered by one or more of the sites you regularly visit. That's one thing I really love about Firefox: instead of just randomly popping up windows from sites you visit, it shows you a warning message.

Other Web browsers have various abilities to do this too, but most of them just silently block things without letting you know (for example, Safari) which is a bit less fun than having the browser tell you that it's helping you not be overwhelmed by pop-ups.

Unfortunately, they don't always work, even the slick Firefox blocker. For example, visit http://www.w3exit.com/ and its demo page and I bet you'll get one of these annoying pop-under ads showing up.

Those Web pages are dutifully logged in the history file and later you'll look at the list of pages you've visited and find that there are alien invaders, just as you are experiencing. That they're porn or scam sites, well, that speaks more to the denizens of the social networks and sites you're visiting.

How do these pages show up without you ever seeing them? They show up underneath your current window, and if you never close the top window to see what's behind it, they can pile up, dozens at a time, and then all silently vanish when you quit your browser, without ever showing their ugly face.

So now you know. No reason to be paranoid about hackers breaking into your computer to utilize your Web browser. The explanation is - most likely - far more mundane.

Categorized: Windows PC Help (Article 8012, Written by Dave Taylor)
Tagged: ad networks, browser history, pop-under ads, spyware, viruses
Previous: Why are mailto links not clickable in Firefox?
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Comments

in miscrosoft power point i insert a sound it works and says it goes on for 3:32, but what it wont do is continue to play throughout the whole slide hosw, how do i do this?

Posted by: callum sykes at April 19, 2008 8:55 AM

Hi,
I have both IE7 and FF installed on my computer. On most occasions, I only use FF (I use IE mostly to test my html/php code for work).
This morning, I wanted to copy and paste something into notepad, and, as happens, I forgot to copy first, so the last thing copied there was pasted - it was the url of a site that had a very porn-y sound to it.
I am the only one who uses this computer, and I know I never copied such a link, never visit such sites, etc. On the alert, I went to check the history in FF - was filled with my regulars, nothing unusual. But then I checked in IE - and found a list of porn sites there... I know it's not from popups, because, like I said, I rarely use IE, and had not used it for awhile when I found this list of visited sites. I thought maybe it was malware - but I ran a scan and it found nothing.
I noticed that some of the listed sites had to do with Skype (which runs continuously on my computer) - Skype video sharing, etc. My security level on skype is very high - I only allow contacts on my list to contact me, etc.
And now, I just recieved a contact request from skype from someone with a very porn-sounding name asking to share contact details with me. It is all very suspicious. Is it possible that someone has been hacking into my computer through Skype?
Thanks for your help, this is really confusing me.

Posted by: E H at February 1, 2009 6:32 AM

My brother recently passed away. He was an artist and had his own website
I am executrix of his estate and would like to know how I can access his website to maintain it. He had someone doing it for him but that won't be the case anymore. I don't have much experience with websites but I can learn.

Posted by: Teresa Weavil at April 30, 2009 12:03 PM

Thank you. Porn sites and other sites have showed up on our computer history that we have not viewed. I have been blamed based on my history 3 plus years ago. I have not viewed any of these sites. I wondered if possible the neighbor is using our wireless to connect to internet sites, is their any way it could show up on our computers history?

Posted by: wayne at April 5, 2011 8:38 AM

Sorry, Wayne, I don't know of any way that you can have sites show up in your Web history without the browser actually going to those sites, either in pop-ups, pop-unders or iframes / other content on a page. If your neighbor is tapping into your wifi, it'd show up on a firewall, perhaps, but not in your browser.

Posted by: Dave Taylor at April 5, 2011 10:10 PM

I have a similar issue to a question asked earlier. Is it possible for someone to hack into my computer and access sites when my computer is on? Porn sites have appeared in the history of my computer during my absence. There are not only pop ups showing up in the history but also youtube videos. My daughter vehemently denies using the computer or accessing the sites. The computer was also shut down when I got back. I am concerned that she has viewed them. She is only 12 years old. When confronted she has vehemently denied it. Although I would like to believe her I can't see how youtube videos can be in my history without her accessing it. Please advise. Thanks!

Posted by: Amother at May 30, 2011 1:57 PM

I have something to say, now that you mention it, but ...

I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you for all your efforts on this Web site by buying you a cup of coffee!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!