MCCAFEE, Inc. Names Most Dangerous Celebrities In Cyberspace

    Brad Pitt has overtaken Paris Hilton as the most dangerous celebrity to search for in cyberspace according to Internet security company McAfee. For the second year running, McAfee entered the glamorous world of Hollywood to reveal the riskiest celebrities in cyberspace.

    Checking in on your famous friends is not only a guilty pleasure, but seriously dangerous for your PC. Fans searching for “Brad Pitt,” “Brad Pitt downloads,” and Brad Pitt wallpaper, screen savers and pictures have an 18% chance of having their PCs infected with online threats, such as spyware, spam, phishing, adware, viruses and other malware.

    Cybercriminals are using A-listers’ names and images, like Beyonce and Justin Timberlake, to lure Internet users who surf the Web for the latest gossip, screen savers and ringtones to “fake” Web sites that look legitimate.

    Actors Brad Pitt and Justin Timberlake are the most dangerous men to seek on the Internet, while Beyonce and Heidi Montag top the list for women. Paris Hilton, who topped 2007’s most dangerous celebrities, is noticeably absent from this year’s list. Also absent is Britney Spears who was ranked #4 in 2007.

    In their second annual report, McAfee compiled the list, using the McAfee(R) SiteAdvisor(R) technology, of Hollywood celebrity names that produce the largest number of risky sites when searched for on the Web. The list includes:

    Position 1

    Brad Pitt — When “Brad Pitt screensavers” was searched, more than
    half of the resulting Web sites were identified as containing malicious
    downloads with spyware, adware and potential viruses.

    Position 2

    Beyonce — Inputting “Beyonce ringtones” into a search engine yields
    risky Web sites that promote misleading offers to gather consumers’
    personal information.

    Position 3

    Justin Timberlake — Interest in his high-profile relationships makes him
    an easy target for spammers and hackers. When searching for “Justin
    Timberlake downloads” one Web site advertised free music downloads
    that were flagged as directly leading to spam, spyware and adware.

    Position 4

    Heidi Montag — “The Hills” star is a popular search term when it
    comes to searching for wallpaper. A host of wallpaper Web sites
    contained hundreds of malware-laden downloads.

    Position 5

    Mariah Carey — Spammers and hackers are using Mariah Carey
    screen saver Web sites to link to other sites proven to contain
    spyware, adware and other threatening downloads.

    Position 6

    Jessica Alba — Red-ranked risky sites were identified when searching
    for “Jessica Alba” and “Jessica Alba downloads.” The sites
    contained hundreds of malicious downloads, links to other bad sites,
    misleading offers to gather information, and a high number of spam
    emails when an email address was provided.

    Position 7

    Lindsay Lohan — This young Hollywood starlet is as dangerous to
    search online as she is famous. Searching for “Lindsay Lohan
    downloads” resulted in several dangerous Web sites laden with hidden
    adware.

    Position 8

    Cameron Diaz — Cybercriminals use download Web sites related
    to Cameron Diaz’s image to link to other harmful sites containing
    spyware.

    Position 9

    George Clooney, Rihanna — The technology found one Web site
    embedded with hundreds of dangerous wallpaper and photo
    downloads after inputting “George Clooney downloads.” “Rihanna
    pictures” was also a risky search term, as McAfee identified a site that
    spammed its test email address.

    Position 11

    Angelina Jolie — When “Angelina Jolie downloads” was searched, the
    software highlighted a risky site with 978 hidden malware-infected
    wallpaper and photo downloads, as well as links to other potentially
    dangerous URLs.

    Position 12

    Fergie — A Fergie screen saver site was flagged as offering 111 risky
    downloads that could seriously compromise a PC’s privacy with unwanted
    spyware and adware.

    Position 13

    David Beckham, Katie Holmes — The “David Beckham” search term
    generated a great deal of wallpaper and screen saver downloads veiled
    with malware. Consumers should also exercise caution when searching
    for “Katie Holmes” online — one download site advertised free screen
    savers that, if downloaded, would infect your computer with malicious
    programs like spyware.

    Position 15

    Katherine Heigl — Hollywood’s big headliner in recent years is now
    susceptible to Internet lurkers too. “Katherine Heigl” was searched and
    a site was identified containing hundreds of malware-infected pictures.

    “Cybercriminals employ numerous methods, yet one of the simplest but most effective ways is to trick consumers into infecting themselves by capitalizing on Americans’ interest in celebrity gossip,” said Jeff Green, Senior Vice President of McAfee’s Product Development & Avert Labs. “Tapping into current events, pop culture or commonly browsed sites is an easy way to achieve this. And because of Americans’ obsession with following celebrities’ lifestyles, they are an obvious target. We have to take precautions in casually navigating the Web since many subtle sites may be rife with malware for consumers’ computers.”

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