I accidentally opened a webpage in Brave whose address started with "ww32" instead of the usual "www." I'm worried that simply visiting the page may have installed malware or spyware on my phone. I closed the tab immediately, cleared my browsing history, and ran Malwarebytes, which found nothing. Is there anything else I should be concerned about?
2 Answers
Seeing “ww32” instead of “www” doesn’t automatically mean the site infected your phone. Websites can use different subdomains or hostnames for various technical reasons. Simply loading a page is unlikely to compromise a modern phone, especially if you didn’t download a file, install an app, grant permissions, or enter sensitive information. A clean Malwarebytes scan is reassuring.
You’re probably fine. Closing the page was sensible, but deleting your history doesn’t remove malware—it only removes the local browsing record. As long as you didn’t interact with suspicious downloads, install anything, approve unusual permissions, or provide passwords, there’s little reason to suspect an infection. Keep your phone and browser updated and monitor for genuinely unusual behavior.
Thanks, that helps. I only opened the page briefly, closed it right away, and didn’t download or install anything.