# Why do I get "website blocked due to malware" when I have no browser open?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-get-website-blocked-due-to-malware-when-i-have-no-browser-open/971992>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 21, 2022, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-get-website-blocked-due-to-malware-when-i-have-no-browser-open/971992 "2022-09-21T16:20:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 9\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2022, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-get-website-blocked-due-to-malware-when-i-have-no-browser-open/971992/1 "2022-09-21T16:20:39Z")

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I use MalwareBytes. Multiple times in the day, it will notify me, “Website blocked due to malware,” “Type: outbound,” even if I have no browser open at all. Why is it blocking websites if I am not accessing any website?

And what does “outbound” mean - that it’s originating _from_ my computer?

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**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2022, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-get-website-blocked-due-to-malware-when-i-have-no-browser-open/971992/2 "2022-09-21T16:24:44Z")

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When was the last time you did a full scan?

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**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2022, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-get-website-blocked-due-to-malware-when-i-have-no-browser-open/971992/3 "2022-09-21T16:26:18Z")

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Every day - it’s automatically scheduled. I did one just this morning.

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**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2022, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-get-website-blocked-due-to-malware-when-i-have-no-browser-open/971992/4 "2022-09-21T16:27:17Z")

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Malwarebyes just tweeted that they are working on a known issue:

> <https://twitter.com/malwarebytes/status/1572607583093161984?s=21&t=mRFAuSwMVwhgFf_t4fIQAg>

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**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2022, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-get-website-blocked-due-to-malware-when-i-have-no-browser-open/971992/5 "2022-09-21T16:30:23Z")

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Are you getting emails? MB might be scanning your emails and blocking websites linked therein, or hosted images.

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**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2022, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-get-website-blocked-due-to-malware-when-i-have-no-browser-open/971992/6 "2022-09-21T16:31:25Z")

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> [@Velocity](#):
>
> I use MalwareBytes. Multiple times in the day, it will notify me, “Website blocked due to malware,” “Type: outbound,” even if I have no browser open at all. Why is it blocking websites if I am not accessing any website?

What _do_ you have open though? Another application you’re using might be trying to access the web.

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**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2022, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-get-website-blocked-due-to-malware-when-i-have-no-browser-open/971992/7 "2022-09-21T16:35:31Z")

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I was getting popups every 10 seconds or so, even with no browsers open and a computer restart.

Since I read that Malwarebytes knew about the issue, I temporarily turned Malwarebytes off.

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**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2022, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-get-website-blocked-due-to-malware-when-i-have-no-browser-open/971992/8 "2022-09-21T17:35:29Z")

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ah thanks!

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**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2022, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-get-website-blocked-due-to-malware-when-i-have-no-browser-open/971992/9 "2022-09-21T19:33:36Z")

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> [@MindsEye\_Watering](#):
>
> I was getting popups every 10 seconds or so, even with no browsers open and a computer restart.

I was getting this too, this morning. It seems to have stopped on its own, i.e. I didn’t take any action (except I closed and re-opened the browser, but it continued after that, until it stopped).