Watch out for celebrity searches
'Emma Watson Nude'? Not So Fast, McAfee Warns
Harry Potter star Emma Watson has displaced Heidi Klum as the riskiest person to search for online.
According to McAfee’s sixth annual ranking of the "Most Dangerous Celebrity," those going online to find the latest pictures and videos of the 22-year-old British star have a one in eight chance of clicking into a website that contains an online threat, such as spyware, adware, spam, phishing, viruses, and other malware.
"Cybercriminals follow the latest trends, often using the names of popular celebrities to lure people to sites that are actually laden with malicious software that are designed to steal passwords and personal information. Anyone looking for the latest videos or files to download could end up with a malware-ridden computer along with the trendy content," McAfee wrote in a blog post.
And no surprises here, but McAfee also noted that women were the most popular types of celebrity bait. Late-night talkshow host Jimmy Kimmel was the only male in the top 20, securing number 13. Brad Pitt and CNN's Piers Morgan dropped off the list this year.
Celebrity-crazed users should be extra wary when conducting Internet research of the fair Hermione Granger, or the other celebrities in McAfee’s top ten list:
1. Emma Watson
2. Jessica Biel
3. Eva Mendes
4. Selena Gomez
5. Halle Berry
6. Megan Fox
7. Shakira
8. Cameron Diaz
9. Salma Hayek
10. Sofia Vergara
The company didn’t go into detail about its methodology, but said the list was based on McAfee SiteAdvisor site rankings.
Protect Yourself
McAfee offered the same tips usually given in these Internet threat reports. Alwaays be skeptical of a link offering free downloads as they are "significantly the highest virus-prone search terms," McAfee wrote. You can hover your mouse over a link to preview the destination URL. This doesn't just apply to celebrity links. Cybercriminals also frequently latch onto trending events, like the Olympics or Bin Laden's death, to bait users to malicious websites.
But also, make sure your security suite offers at the very minimum an antivirus and firewall protection, and keep the software up to date. PCMag's Editors' Choices for security suites are Norton Internet Security 2012 and Webroot SecureAnywhere Complete.
For more recommendations, check out The Best Antivirus for 2012.