Google warns 20,000 websites they could be infected with malware

The malicious site could exploit some vulnerability in the software you're using though.

Nothing says the current user of the machine is the tech-savvy installer. My mother's comp has no-script on it, but she is in no way strong technologically.

A "mom-level" user may well enable scripts when prompted by an artful redirect like say:

1. A clone of your bank website (if you were headed there)

2. A page-not-found or server error page that looked normal..

3. the old "virus alert" scam