Ho-ly. Curius, I searched: tomshardware requesting I download file and got:

Recent reports from August 2026 indicate that users accessing Tom's Hardware on mobile browsers experienced unexpected file download requests (with a link to your comment) while viewing specific content. Similar issues occurred historically, where buggy ad servers or site scripts triggered empty "usnc" file downloads or 0-byte files on devices lacking adblockers.

Current and Historical Context The unexpected prompt you are seeing is a known behavior that has resurfaced recently. On August 30, 2026, mobile users browsing via Safari on iOS reported that loading articles—specifically regarding a recent 12TB Steam leak—triggered an unsolicited prompt asking them to download a file.

This matches historical patterns where technical glitches or external elements on the platform caused automated downloads...

And then it lists a couple of times it happened in the past.