Well, not on purpose.
But, according to internet security company McAfee Inc., searching for Jessica Biel online can be dangerous.
For the past three years, McAfee has been releasing its yearly list of the riskiest celebrities to search for.
Last year it was Brad Pitt and before him it was Paris Hilton, but this year, odds are if you’re looking up info on Biel you might get directed to a spam or virus-infecting site.
According to a rep from McAfee:
“Cybercriminals are star watchers too – they latch onto popular celebrities to encourage the download of malicious software in disguise. Every day, cybercriminals use celebrities’ names and images, like Kim Kardashian and Rihanna, to lure surfers searching for the latest stories, screen savers and ringtones to sites offering free downloads laden with malware.”
Turns out that if you search for Jessica Biel, you’ll have a one-in-five chance of arriving at a website that’s known for “online threats, such as spyware, adware, spam, phishing, and viruses.”
Coming in second on this year’s list of the most dangerous to search for is Beyonce, followed by Jennifer Aniston which resulted in more than 40% of the search results for “Jennifer Aniston screensavers” containing viruses.
Seriously, Maniston has got to stop searching for screensavers of herself!
Careful what you download!
Check out the top 15 dangerous celebrities to search for after the jump.
[Image via WENN.]
Here are 2009’s top 15 most dangerous celebrity searches:
1. Jessica Biel — Major buzz about her figure and high-profile relationship with Justin Timberlake makes Jessica Biel an easy target for spammers and hackers. When ├óΓé¼┼ôJessica Biel screensavers├óΓé¼┬¥ was searched, almost half of the sites were identified as containing malicious downloads with spyware, adware and potential viruses.
2. Beyonc├â┬⌐– Beyonce tops the MTV Video Music Award nominee list, and McAfee├óΓé¼Γäós results as the most frequent, highly-ranked celebrity. Inputting ├óΓé¼┼ôBeyonc├â┬⌐ ringtones├óΓé¼┬¥ into a search engine yielded a dangerous Web site linking to a distributor of adware and spyware.
3. Jennifer Aniston– A favorite among Hollywood├óΓé¼Γäós leading ladies, Jennifer Aniston should be searched with caution. More than 40 percent of Google search results for ├óΓé¼┼ôJennifer Aniston screensavers├óΓé¼┬¥ contained nasty viruses, including one called the ├óΓé¼┼ôFunLove virus.├óΓé¼┬¥
4. Tom Brady– The New England Patriot seems to attract many fans who want a free download of the athlete in action, but not the Trojan that comes with it.
5. Jessica Simpson– Jessica Simpson is as dangerous to search online as she is famous. Searching for ├óΓé¼┼ôJessica Simpson videos├óΓé¼┬¥ can mislead unsuspecting surfers to sites with potentially damaging downloads.
6. Gisele Bundchen– The world├óΓé¼Γäós highest-paid supermodel is a popular target for cybercriminals. A search for ├óΓé¼┼ôGisele Bundchen photos├óΓé¼┬¥ can direct users to sites that breached browser security in McAfee├óΓé¼Γäós tests.
7. Miley Cyrus– Cybercriminals are using websites related to Miley Cyrus├óΓé¼Γäó image to link to other harmful sites containing spyware.
8. Megan Fox, Angelina Jolie– Both tabloid fixture Megan Fox and American icon Angelina Jolie resulted in an equal number of risky download websites, proving cybercriminals are in the business of capitalizing on the world├óΓé¼Γäós most famous faces.
9. Ashley Tisdale– The ├óΓé¼┼ôHigh School Musical├óΓé¼┬¥ star is a popular search term when it comes to searching for screensavers. A host of screensaver websites contained numerous malware-laden downloads.
10. Brad Pitt– Appearing in the top spot last year, Brad Pitt dropped down on this year├óΓé¼Γäós list, resulting in a few less, but just as dangerous websites.
11. Reese Witherspoon– Risky websites were identified when searching for ├óΓé¼┼ôReese Witherspoon├óΓé¼┬¥ and ├óΓé¼┼ôReese Witherspoon photos├óΓé¼┬¥ promoting free files with hidden malware.
12. Britney Spears– McAfee SiteAdvisor technology found a single site promoting free Britney Spears wallpaper that was embedded with more than 50 potentially infected downloads.
13. Rihanna– Free Rihanna ringtones are some of the most sought after, but some shady vendors mislead those who subscribe by gathering and selling their personal information.
14. Lindsay Lohan– McAfee’s study flagged Lindsay Lohan screen saver sites as offering a combined 50 free screen savers infected with Trojans, viruses and spyware.
15. Kim Kardashian– The biggest reality star in recent months is now susceptible to Internet lurkers too. A search for Kim Kardashian wallpaper and screen savers generated numerous downloads veiled with malware.
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