Can a malicious file harm my phone without an app to run it?

[Android Central Question]

I recently opened a malicious site and later discovered that it was malicious as said above

I was told it downloads a .Atrojan file which is malware

I deleted it right away

Could it have done it's malicious objective or would it have needed a piece of malicious app to help the file run and do its malicious activity?

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Malware generally doesn't do anything if it's not installed/opened. So if it was only downloaded and then deleted, you should be safe.

Please register on this forum, which will allow you to engage in discussion more easily, as well as post images. https://forums.androidcentral.com/ask-question/409154-join-android-central-community.html

 

[L0n3N1nja]

From what I've witnessed you can get annoying redirects online but not actual viruses or malware on Android without actually approving to install something.

Google did a really smart thing years ago by defaulting Android to block the installation of apps that don't come from the PlayStore. Made it very difficult to accidentally install malware.