Lily Collins has been named the most risky cyber celebrity for 2013, according to McAfee's Most Dangerous Celebrities study.
For the study, McAfee researched popular culture's famous faces to reveal the riskiest Hollywood actors, musicians, comedians and personalities on the Web. The security solutions company's seventh annual study found that women are more dangerous than men, and that searching for your favourite musician online may be dicier than you thought.
Actress Lily Collins replaced Emma Watson as McAfee's most dangerous celebrity to search for online. The McAfee research found that individuals browsing for Lily Collins images or downloads stood a 14.5% chance of landing on a Web site that has tested positive for online threats, such as spyware, spam, phishing, viruses and other malware.
Avril Lavigne took the number two spot on the McAfee list and Sandra Bullock ranked third. Jon Hamm of Mad Men fame was the only male to make the top 10.
"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 Craig Hockley, regional director of SA and sub-Saharan Africa at McAfee.
According to McAfee, cyber criminals take advantage of consumer interest during awards season or the release of new movies and TV shows. These criminals lure the public to sites laden with malware, allowing them to steal passwords and personal information.
This year, the study found that searching for a celebrity name, coupled with the terms "free app download" and "nude pictures", resulted in the highest instances of malware-laden sites.
To guard against this kind of cyber crime, the company advises that people be extra cautious when searching for hot topics, which often lead to malicious sites created by cyber criminals. McAfee also encourages the public to double check Web addresses for misspellings or other clues that indicate they could be entering a phony Web site.
"Cyber criminals prey on consumers' addiction to breaking news and leverage this behaviour to lead them to unsafe sites," Hockley concluded, adding that these sites can infect the user's computer or device and even steal their personal data.
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