A recent study by McAfee shows that Harry Potter actress Emma Watson is the most dangerous celebrity on the Internet – that is to say that Internet searches including her name are more likely to yield websites that contain malware.
Malware scammers are always using social engineering techniques to bait unwary Internet users into falling for their traps. For many malware scammers this means keeping on top of the latest trends – what’s hot and what’s not – in order to find out what Internet users are searching for online.
With that information scammers can lay traps online containing much sought after keywords, and then lie in wait under the cyber bushes until inevitably their prey comes sniffing.
And in somewhat of a backhanded compliment, malware scammers have deemed Emma Wastson “hip” enough to become cyber-bait, as the British actress has topped McAfee’s list of the most dangerous celebrities on the Internet. This means that Internet searches related to the actress are most likely to return websites that will try and infect a users computer will malware.
The usual “red flag phrases” are always present, including “[celebrity name] nude pictures”, “[celebrity name] leaked photos” and “[celebrity name] busted” all making an appearance. And it’s probably for that same reason that celebrity women do dominate the “dangerous celeb” list, with Eva Mendes, Jessica Biel, Selena Gomez and Halle Berry all coming in the top five, with Megan Fox and Shakira just missing out.
The report also suggests that Latina women, supermodels and young musicians are generally amongst the most dangerous to search for.
So be careful what you search for. Scammers know the trending search terms and will always try and capitalise on them. Never download any material from untrusted websites.
Also be sure to run reliable security software on your computer that includes a link scanner that can warn users of potenitally malicious websites before you visit them. You can check out our editors choice security software (yes, it does include a link scanner) by clicking here.
The McAfee study can be read here.
