The 'Mortal Instruments: City of Bones' actress tops this year's list of most dangerous celebrity to search online by McAfee, while Avril Lavigne is on number 2.
- Sep 17, 2013
AceShowbiz - Searching news about Lily Collins may bring internet users high risk of landing on malware-laden sites. McAfee has released a list of most dangerous celebrity to search online and placed Collins on top of this year's list. The security software company, which conducts studies about the topic annually, placed Emma Watson on the first position in 2012.
The study reveals that searching info about the "Mirror, Mirror" actress may bring 14.5 percent chance of landing on malicious sites which enable cyber-criminals to steal passwords as well as private information, while the risk is about 12.7 for people who type Avril Lavigne. Typing Sandra Bullock on the web may bring 10.8 percent risk of landing on sites with malicious content.
The company notes that cyber-criminals track people's interest toward breaking news, award shows, new movies and current trends to lure surfers. Female celebrities pose higher risk compared to male figures with Jon Hamm as the only male star who makes it on the top 10. The risk is the highest when surfers search the name of celebrities with terms such as "free app download" or "nude pictures" and click suspicious links.
"Today's consumers often are completely unaware of security risks when searching for celebrity and entertainment news, images and videos online, sacrificing safety for immediacy," says the director of web security research at McAfee, Paula Greve. "Cybercriminals prey on consumers' addiction to breaking news and leverage this behavior to lead them to unsafe sites that can severely infect their computers and devices and steal personal data."
McAfee's list of top 10 celebrities with highest percentages of risk:
- Lily Collins, 14.5 percent
- Avril Lavigne, 12.7 percent
- Sandra Bullock, 10.8 percent
- Kathy Griffin, 10.6 percent
- Zoe Saldana, 10.5 percent
- Katy Perry, 10.4 percent
- Britney Spears, 10.1 percent
- Jon Hamm, 10.0 percent
- Adriana Lima, 9.9 percent
- Emma Roberts, 9.8 percent
