# Virus on SD home page?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virus-on-sd-home-page/276703>\
**Category:** About This Message Board\
**Created:** [November 26, 2004, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virus-on-sd-home-page/276703 "2004-11-26T03:08:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\
**Post date:** [November 26, 2004, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virus-on-sd-home-page/276703/1 "2004-11-26T03:08:41Z")

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When I go to the [straighdope.com](http://straighdope.com), it started trying to download a file. This is even before the page displays.

Sounds very suspicious to me: have you been hit with a virus?

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**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\
**Post date:** [November 26, 2004, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virus-on-sd-home-page/276703/2 "2004-11-26T03:19:46Z")

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Huh. Didn’t happen to me.

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**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\
**Post date:** [November 26, 2004, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virus-on-sd-home-page/276703/3 "2004-11-26T11:07:46Z")

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I didn’t get a file trying to download. Maybe you should run a virus scan?

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**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\
**Post date:** [November 26, 2004, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virus-on-sd-home-page/276703/4 "2004-11-26T11:23:28Z")

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Nothing strange to report here, either.

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**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\
**Post date:** [November 26, 2004, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virus-on-sd-home-page/276703/5 "2004-11-26T14:48:55Z")

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The problem is not on this end, I assure you.

We will never ask you download something from our front page or anywhere else, the board does not work that way.

This question pops up (pun intended) from time to time and has been answered quite nicely in the past, let me direct you here:

[Weird happenings on the SD homepage](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=284361)  
\>[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=284361](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=284361)

Short version: You’ve picked up something that is triggered by the ad on the Straight Dope front page, currently the only ad running on the entire site. The Chicago Reader’s ads are administered through DoubleClick and THAT’s what triggers the cookie you picked up.

Unfortunately this problem comes up enough so that we need to make this more prominent in our help features. Update of our information is on the way. Sorry for your inconvenience.

your humble TubaDiva  
Administrator