Can viruses be automatically run on networked computers?

For example, I'm sharing a folder and my friend is sharing his drive on the network. His drive is infected with a running virus - the virus sees my folder - then copies itself to my folder...can it then be automatically run and then infect my machine as well without my knowledge?

Can viruses be automatically run on networked computers?cafe racer

Yes. Several viruses do that exact behavior.

Can viruses be automatically run on networked computers?free anti virus

It is possible for the infection to spread that way but if you have a firewall it will usually block the file from executing. Then the rest of the problem resides with the user and if he is stupid enough to allow it to run by clicking on it or granting it permission on the firewall.

You can also stop this if you make all the folders you share on the network read only meaning that your parents can look at your files on your computer and copy and view them but they can't add or delete files to the folder.