Jimmy Kimmel: the most dangerous celebrity on the internet? Its not because the late night talk show hosts comedy routines are particularly edgy or because his interviewing technique involves sharp objects or perilous situations, but because, according to McAfee, theres a one in five chance of accidently infecting your computer with a virus or malware when searching for his name. The cyber security and anti-virus firm has been compiling a list of the top 10 celebrity names that, when entered into a search engine, are most likely to result in a potentially nasty cyber surprise, and in 2014, for only the second time in the lists history, it is topped by a man. In 2013, Lily Collins was online miscreants favorite famous bait for tricking web surfers into clicking on something they shouldnt. The actress, model and journalist topped a list that was almost exclusively female -- Avril Lavigne, Sandra Bullock, Katy Perry and Britney Spears all featured highly -- with Jon Hamm of Mad Men (number eight) being the only male celebrity to feature in the top 10. However, this year the list is much more masculine. DJ Armin van Buuren finds himself in second place, Flo Rida in fourth, Bruce Springsteen in fifth place, Blake Shelton in sixth and Jon Bon Jovi in eighth place based on the likelihood that entering their names into Bing or Google will pull up questionable results. As well as promoting safer online behavior, the annual lists are a good way of showing how cybercriminals are using breaking news, gossip and the digital zeitgeist to target the unsuspecting. Most consumers are completely unaware of the security risks that exist when searching for celebrity and entertainment news, images and videos online, sacrificing safety for immediacy, said Gary Davis, chief consumer security evangelist at McAfee. Cybercriminals capitalize on consumers attention to breaking celebrity news and leverage this behavior to lead them to unsafe sites that can severely infect their computers and devices and steal personal data. Of course, simply typing a famous persons name into a search engine, particularly Google, wont open the floodgates to malware attacks, but accompanying a name with photos, video or streaming very well could. Cybercriminals exploit consumers need to be updated on celebrity news, leading them to sites that can harm their devices and compromise personal data. We want to ensure were equipping consumers with the knowledge they need to keep both themselves and their devices safe, said Michelle Dennedy, chief privacy officer at McAfee. The list in full: 1 Jimmy Kimmel - 19.38% risk 2 Armin van Buuren - 19.33% risk 3 Ciara - 19.31% risk 4 Flo Rida - 18.89% risk 5 Bruce Springsteen - 18.82% risk 6 Blake Shelton - 18.47% risk 7 Britney Spears - 18.19% risk 8 Jon Bon Jovi - 17.64% risk 9 Chelsea Handler - 17.22% risk 10 Christina Aguilera - 16.67% risk
Posted on: Sun, 05 Oct 2014 06:55:14 +0000
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