Jessica Biel most 'dangerous' celeb in cyberspace
Through no fault of her own, actress Jessica Biel is now the most hazardous celebrity on the Internet.
McAfee names Jessica Biel most dangerous celebrity online in 2009.
(Credit: Business Wire)Fans searching online for Biel have a one-in-five chance of hitting a Web site with malware, according to McAfee's third annual report listing Hollywood's most "dangerous" online celebrities.
In general, hunting for Hollywood's in-crowd poses a much greater threat than searching for just about anyone else. For example, President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama ranked No. 34 and No. 39, respectively.
Other unsafe celebrities near the top of the cybersecurity company's list include singer Beyonce at No. 2, former "Friends" star Jennifer Aniston at No. 3, and football hero Tom Brady, who came in at No. 4.
McAfee found that searching for photos, videos, downloads, wallpaper, and screensavers of celebrities who made the list could prove hazardous to the health of your computer.
"Cybercriminals 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 Tuesday in a statement. "Consumers' obsession with celebrity news and culture is harmless in theory, but one bad download can cause a lot of damage to a computer."
Using its SiteAdvisor technology, McAfee compiled the list by hunting for celebrity names that produced the largest number of risky sites and the highest percentage of risk.
McAfee's top 15 most "dangerous" celebrities
(Credit:
McAfee)
Lance Whitney wears a few different technology hats--journalist, Web developer, and software trainer. He's a contributing editor for Microsoft TechNet Magazine and writes for other computer publications and Web sites. You can follow Lance on Twitter at @lancewhit. Lance is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and he is not an employee of CNET. 
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What I don't understand is this - if McAfee can locate these pages, why can't Google locate and temporarily suspend them, too? I'd think "do no harm" would include a bar against serving up malware.
You are not safe, only safer than most mouth breathers.
She can inspire a three-way between a malware, a spyware and an adware.
She can ground an ocean liner at 20,000 leagues.
She can make a freight train take a dirt road.
athletes can be stars, champions, superstars, virtuosos, paladins, mavins, megastars, but please not heroes
The closest thing to a football hero in the last 25 years would be Steve Largent. Played 13 years for the Seattle Seahawks, broke EVERY receiving record in football as well as many consecutive game records, 7 pro-bowl teams etc.. And right up until the day he retired, he insisted on receiving the league minimum salary even though he could easily have gone to any team in the NFL and been the highest paid receiver in the game. He played hurt, he never complained, never missed a game or training camp because he wanted more money.
He played football just because he loved the game. In a period of time where every other player seems to only care about how much money they can hold out for, he stood out above all the rest of the game in my book.
Who cares?
Wow, what stunning ignorance. Ford had similar market share in the Model T days, look at them now.
Use a Linux Live CD and you won't have to worry about getting any virus. Save your stuff on a USB key mounted noexec.
- by RockingJamboree August 26, 2009 7:12 AM PDT
- Why are 14 of the 16 names listed here women? Is this a case of sexism? Is this another way society victimizes women? How can these celebrities fight having their names and likenesses used to spread the cyber-evil of viruses, malware, spyware and adware? Are the celebrities themselves at all morally responsible for what gets done "in their name"? Maybe not. But should Jessica Biel feel flattered or ashamed to top this list?
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- by pentest August 28, 2009 8:20 AM PDT
- Yeah it is sexism and victimizes women. ***???
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(40 Comments)The victims are the retarded guys that follow these links and download malware onto their windows systems.