Cameron Diaz is bad news. She was awarded top honors in the newest release of the McAfee “Most Hazardous Celebrities” report. Web users downloading subject matter such as screensavers and wallpaper featuring celebs are often duped by malicious hackers who hide adware behind such content material and Most dangerous Superstars is a list of the Hollywood stars they use most often.
Superstars which distribute threatening downloads the most
McAfee has compiled its Most dangerous Stars list for the past four years to promote its free SiteAdvisor service that scans web sites for the presence of adware. MSNBC reports that McAfee uses SiteAdvisor to identify celebrities with the “highest percentages of risk” for individuals who want to download photos, videos or screensavers featuring them. When looking for Cameron Diaz photos and downloads, web users take a 10 percent chance of landing on a site that’s tested optimistic for spyware that might lead to consequences from degraded PC performance to identity theft.
Detrimental hackers play on followers of rich and famous
The hot topics that interest everybody else on the web are especially enticing for cybercriminals. As reported by ABC News, hackers track one of the most popular superstars and create content featuring them accessible for download that contains hidden programs intended for stealing passwords and other vital personal info that users have stored on their PCs. The tactic is not a recent innovation, but Dave Marcus, McAfee Labs’ director of security research, told ABC News the spread of malicious downloads is increasing at an accelerated pace. McAfee tracked more malware from April through June than ever before. Within that span of time, McAfee uncovered 6 million freshly written malware programs-the equivalent of nearly 60,000 occurrences each and every day.
Actors and models are probably the most hazardous
The top 10 very threatening celebs are most often the hottest movie stars and Victoria Secret models. A CNET report on the phenomenon noted that spyware showed up in 19 percent of the websites found when SiteAdvisor searched “Cameron Diaz and screensavers” . Other actors dominated the top 10. Julia Roberts had to settle for second place. After taking top honors last year, Jessica Biel got bumped to third. One more familiar face (and body) was fourth. Gisele Bundchen is not only the world’s richest supermodel, she’s also one of the most dangerous. The first male on the list is Brad Pitt in fifth-a jump from 10th last year. Some celebs aren’t that dangerous. Politicians typically bring up the rear. Barack Obama ranked no. 49. Sarah Palin, who craves the spotlight, might have been disappointed by straggling in at no. 50.
The McAfee Very threatening 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
Additional reading
MSNBC
msnbc.msn.com
ABC News
abcnews.go.com
CNET
news.cnet.com
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