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Trying to find actress Jessica Biel can be dangerous-on the Internet, anyway.
For the third year in a row, McAfee has put out a list of the most dangerous celebrities when it comes to Internet search results. The list is home to more than a few well-known singers and movie stars, such as Miley Cyrus and Angelina Jolie.
According to McAfee, which just recently published a list of the summer’s top malicious Websites, more than 20 percent of Web searches for Biel lead to sites with malicious content.
Fans searching for “Jessica Biel,” “Jessica Biel downloads,” “Jessica Biel wallpaper,” “Jessica Biel screensavers,” “Jessica Biel photos” and “Jessica Biel videos” have a one-in-five chance of encountering a Website hosting malware threats, McAfee reported. When “Jessica Biel screensavers” in particular was searched for, nearly half of the results led to malicious downloads of spyware, adware and viruses.
Coming in at No. 2 for the second consecutive year is Beyonce, setting the record as the overall most frequently high-ranked celebrity in the top five. Rounding out the top three is actress Jennifer Aniston. According to McAfee, more than 40 percent of the Google search results for “Jennifer Aniston screensavers” contained viruses.
“Cyber-criminals are star watchers too-they latch onto popular celebrities to encourage the download of malicious software in disguise,” Jeff Green, senior vice president of McAfee Avert Labs, said in a statement Aug. 25. “Consumers’ obsession with celebrity news and culture is harmless in theory, but one bad download can cause a lot of damage to a computer.”
Interestingly, President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, whose names were once a common lure for attackers and spammers, ranked 34 and 39 respectively on this year’s list.
In descending order, here are the other celebrities in the top 10:
- NFL star Tom Brady
- Singer Jessica Simpson
- Supermodel Gisele Bundchen
- Singer/actress Miley Cyrus
- Actresses Megan Fox and Angelina Jolie (tied for 8th)
- Actress Ashley Tisdale
- Actor Brad Pitt