Cameron Diaz is a cybercrime waiting to happen. The new McAfee “Most Harmful Superstars release puts her at the top of the list. Cybercriminals use celebrities to trick individuals into downloading malicious content and also the annual Most dangerous Celebrities report is a list of the famous people they like to use most.
Most Threatening Superstars pass on harmful downloads
McAfee has compiled its Very threatening Superstars list for the past four years to promote its free SiteAdvisor service that scans sites for the presence of spyware. As reported by MSNBC, SiteAdvisor is the tool used by McAfee to single out the celebrity downloading for videos, photos or wallpaper that hold the highest degree of risk. Internet users who search for downloads and photos of Cameron Diaz are directed to websites 10 percent of the time where malware is detected that could glean sensitive personal information or disrupt PC performance.
Celeb loyalty exploited through internet criminals
Celebs using a new movie or scandal achieve tremendous popularity on the Internet. Cybercriminals can’t help but notice. ABC News reports that malicious hackers use one of the most popular celebs to trick their followers into downloading what seems as harmless content material that actually hides stealth programs written to hijack passwords and sensitive personal info. The tactic isn’t really a recent innovation, but Dave Marcus, McAfee Labs’ director of security research, told ABC News the spread of detrimental downloading is increasing at an accelerated pace. Within the second quarter, a record number of viruses incidents was detected by McAfee. The presence of 6 million original pieces of malware-about 60,000 a day-were exposed by McAfee in that time frame.
Lovely people disguise ugly secrets
Although the names change annually, probably the most risky celebs list follows a typical pattern. The top 10 names are usually actors and models. When SiteAdvisor was asked to search “Cameron Diaz and screensavers,” CNET reports that harmful content material was revealed on 19 percent of the site results . The second-most dangerous super star on the fourth annual list was Julia Roberts. Jessica Biel came in 3rd after leading the pack last year. Fourth place is occupied by the world’s richest supermodel, Gisele Bundchen. Brad Pitt moved up five spots from last year to rank fifth. Some of the safest celebrities to search for are politicians. Barack Obama ranked no. 49. Sarah Palin, who craves the spotlight, may have been disappointed by straggling in at no. 50.
The McAfee Most dangerous Celebrities
1. Cameron Diaz
2. Julia Roberts
3. Jessica Biel
4. Gisele Bündchen
5. Brad Pitt
6. Adriana Lima
7. Jennifer Love Hewitt and Nicole Kidman: tie
8. Tom Cruise
9. Heidi Klum and Penelope Cruz: tie
10. Anna Paquin
MSNBC
msnbc.msn.com
ABC News
abcnews.go.com
CNET
news.cnet.com
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