Charlie’s Angels and Shrek actress
Cameron Diaz is the most dangerous celebrity in cyberspace according to the 4th annual McAfee Most Dangerous Celebrities study. Ms. Diaz has replaced Jessica Biel as the most dangerous celebrity to search for on the Web, according to security company McAfee, Inc. (MCFE).
For the fourth year in a row, McAfee researched popular culture’s most famous people to reveal the riskiest celebrity athletes, musicians, politicians, comedians, and Hollywood stars on the Web. “Whether you’re surfing the Web from your computer or your phone or clicking on links in Twitter about your favorite celeb, you should surf safely, and make sure you’re using the latest security software.”
Cyber-criminals use celebrity as lure
Cyber-criminals often use the names of popular celebrities to lure people to sites that are actually laden with malicious software. Anyone looking for the latest videos or pictures could end up with a malware-ridden computer instead of just trendy content. “Cyber-criminals follow the same hot topics as consumers, and create traps based on the latest trends,” Dave Marcus, security researcher for McAfee Labs said, “Whether you’re surfing the Web from your computer or your phone or clicking on links in Twitter about your favorite celeb, you should surf safely, and make sure you’re using the latest security software.”
McAfee research found that searching for the latest Cameron Diaz pictures and downloads yields a ten percent chance of landing on a website that’s tested positive for online threats, such as spyware, adware, spam, phishing, viruses, and other malware. These fans are at risk of running into online threats designed to steal personal information. Clicking on these risky sites and downloading files like photos, videos, or screen savers exposes surfers or consumers to the risk of downloading viruses and malware.
Mr. Marcus continues, “ … consumers are getting smarter about searching online, yet cybercriminals are getting sneakier in their techniques. Now they’re hiding malicious content in ‘tiny’ places like shortened URLs that can spread virally in social networking sites and Twitter, instead of on websites and downloads.”
The study uses SiteAdvisor site ratings, which indicates which sites are risky to search for celebrity names on the Web and calculate an overall risk percentage.
| 1 | Cameron Diaz | Searching for Ms. Diaz results in a one in ten chance of landing on a risky site. She has most recently been in the spotlight with blockbuster movies, “Knight and Day” and “Shrek Forever After.” When “Cameron Diaz and screensavers” was searched, 19% of the sites were identified as containing malicious downloads |
| 2 | Julia Roberts | The Academy Award-winning actress is one of America’s sweethearts, and was recently in the spotlight with her upcoming release of “Eat, Pray, Love.” The overall risk of searching for Roberts is 9%, yet searching for “Julia Roberts and downloads” results in a 20% chance of downloading a photo, wallpaper or other file laden with malware. |
| 3 | Jessica Biel | Last year’s Most Dangerous Celebrity fell 2 spots with searches resulting in fewer risky sites this year. Her on-again, off-again relationship with Justin Timberlake, keeps M. Biel iin the spotlight along with her 2010 appearance in “The A-Team.". While her overall search risk is 9%, searching for “Jessica Biel and screensavers” results in a 17% chance of landing on a risky site. |
| 4 | Gisele Bündchen | The world’s highest-paid supermodel moved up 2 spots since last year. Searching for “Gisele Bündchen and screensavers” can prove risky, 15% of the search results for this beauty can put spyware, malware or viruses on your computer. |
| 5 | Brad Pitt | Mr. Pitt is often in the spotlight with news of his movies and his personal life. It’s no wonder why this leading man has been in the top ten for the past 3 years. He moved up in rank 5 spots this year. Downloading photos, screensavers, or other files of the actor can potentially put adware or spyware in your computer. |
| 6 | Adriana Lima | Searching for downloads of this Brazilian beauty can direct users to red-ranked sites. Ms. Ms. Lima is best known for being a Victoria’s Secret Angel since 2000. |
| 7 | Tie- Jennifer Love Hewitt and Nicole Kidman | Searching for these Hollywood starlets resulted in an equal number of risky download websites. |
| 8 | Tom Cruise | With recent buzz around his MTV Awards performance as well as his movie, “Knight and Day,” Mr. Cruise rises to the top ten. |
| 9 | Tie - Heidi Klum and Penelope Cruz | Both of these women are consistently in the spotlight, and share the #9 spot. Cybercriminals use their names to lure people to risky sites. Ms. Klum hosts “Project Runway” and Ms. Cruz has been in the spotlight recently for her role in the “Sex and the City 2” movie and is expected to star in the fourth film of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series. |
| 10 | Anna Paquin | This “True Blood” star is as dangerous on the Web as she is on the screen. Searching for screensavers of Ms, Paquin can lead you to downloads filled with malware. |
| 49 | President Barack Obama | Searchs for Mr.Oboma is not that risky.His rank of 49 places him in the bottom of this year’s results, moving even lower on the list compared to last year. |
rb-
McAfee released this celebrity list just minutes before it announced Intel was buying the company for nearly $8 billion.
Just pointing out the timing, maybe marketing is why McAfee was able to get $8 billion from Intel for the company.
What do you think?
Cameron Diaz? Really?
Is the anti-virus industry based on marketing?
Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.
Anti-malware firm McAfee has released it annual Most Dangerous Celebrities list and daughter of rock musician Phil Collins actress Lily Collins is 2013’s most dangerous celeb to search for online. Ms. Collins has starred in such classic movies as “Mirror, Mirror” and “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones” unseated “Harry Potter“ star Emma Watson who topped the list in 2012.
Female celebrities were the overwhelming lure to malware; “Mad Men” star Jon Hamm was the only man in the top 10. A person could be led to malware after doing a general search and clicking on dubious links, but risks increased when searchers added phrases like “free apps” or “nude photos.”