{"id":23993,"date":"2012-09-11T13:16:19","date_gmt":"2012-09-11T03:16:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/power-up.space\/?p=23993"},"modified":"2012-09-11T13:16:19","modified_gmt":"2012-09-11T03:16:19","slug":"mcafee-reveals-dannii-minogue-as-australias-most-dangerous-cyber-celebrity-in-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.impulsegamer.com\/wordpress\/?p=23993","title":{"rendered":"MCAFEE REVEALS DANNII MINOGUE AS AUSTRALIA\u2019S MOST DANGEROUS CYBER CELEBRITY IN 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"

Emma Watson Takes Out the Title of Most Dangerous Cyber Celebrity Online<\/em><\/p>\n

SYDNEY, Australia, Sept. 11, 2012<\/strong> \u2013 Dannii Minogue is McAfee’s 2012<\/a> Most Dangerous Celebrity to search for online in Australia (using \u2018.com.au\u2019 search engines). The McAfee Most Dangerous Celebrities<\/a>TM<\/sup> study found Australia\u2019s Isla Fisher and Elle Macpherson to be two of the most dangerous celebrities to search for in cyberspace, ranking 11th and 16th respectively (using \u2018.com\u2019 search engines). For the sixth year in a row, McAfee researched popular culture\u2019s most famous people to reveal the riskiest actors, athletes, musicians, politicians, designers and comedians on the web.<\/p>\n

Cybercriminals follow the latest trends, often using the names of popular celebrities to lure people to sites that are actually laden with malicious software designed to steal passwords and personal information. If you\u2019re not careful when you\u2019re searching for the latest videos or files to download, you could end up with a malware-ridden computer along with the trendy content. This year, searching for a celebrity name with \u201cfree downloads\u201d and \u201cnude pictures\u201d as part of the search term resulted in the highest result of risky sites.<\/p>\n

Dannii Minogue has bumped Nicole Kidman, last year\u2019s riskiest Australian celebrity, down to second place in the Australian results. Fans searching for \u201cDannii Minogue and free downloads,\u201d \u201cDannii Minogue and nude pictures,\u201d \u201cDannii Minogue and fakes,\u201d and \u201cDannii Minogue and busted\u201d are at risk of running into online threats designed to steal personal information. Almost one in 11 resulting sites were identified by McAfee\u00ae SiteAdvisor\u00ae as risky. Clicking on these risky sites and downloading files like pictures and videos exposes surfers or consumers to the risk of downloading viruses and malware.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, Elle Macpherson has proven more dangerous to international users than to her fellow Australians. Making it to 16th on the global list, around one in 13 \u2018.com\u2019 search results associated with Elle were identified as risky, while only around one in 22 \u2018.com.au\u2019 search results were the same. Isla Fisher also received a lower risk rating in Australian than she did globally.<\/p>\n

\u201cCyber criminals often disguise security threats in what appears to be a harmless website and use celebrity names and free downloads to lure users to their site,\u201d said Melanie Cole, Consumer Marketing Programs Director, McAfee Asia Pacific. \u201cAustralians, just like users around the world, are at risk of coming across malicious websites when searching for such celebrity content. So to keep safe it\u2019s important to think before you click or use our McAfee SiteAdvisor\u00ae free tool. \u201d<\/p>\n

Most Dangerous Celebrities Online (\u2018.com\u2019 search results)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Emma Watson has replaced Heidi Klum as McAfee’s 2012 most dangerous celebrity to search for online. The McAfee Most Dangerous Celebrities<\/a>TM<\/sup> study found that women are more dangerous than men with Jessica Biel taking the number two spot and Eva Mendes coming in third. Funnyman Jimmy Kimmel is the only male to make the top 20 list this year.<\/p>\n

McAfee research found that searching for the latest Emma Watson pictures and downloads yields more than a 12.6% chance of landing on a website that has tested positive for online threats, such as spyware, adware, spam, phishing, viruses and other malware.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe searches for Emma Watson identified one risky website in around every eight results,\u201d said Cole. \u201cThese numbers show just how common it is for users to come across sites that pose a real security threat. If users are educated about the risks and use technology to help identify them, they are much less likely to click on a malicious link or download and infect their PC.\u201d<\/p>\n

The study uses McAfee\u00ae SiteAdvisor\u00ae site ratings, which indicates which sites are risky, to search for celebrity names on the Web and calculate an overall risk percentage.\u00a0 The top 10 celebrities from this year\u2019s study with the highest percentages of risk are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Position<\/strong><\/td>\nCelebrity \u00a0 <\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1<\/td>\nEmma \u00a0 Watson<\/strong> \u2013 \u00a0 Best known for her role as Hermione Granger in the \u201cHarry Potter\u201d franchise, \u00a0 the British actress tops the list as the 2012 Most Dangerous Celebrity. \u00a0 Watson continues to star in feature films including \u201cMy Week with Marilyn\u201d \u00a0 and \u201cThe Perks of Being a Wallflower\u201d and is an ambassador for Lanc\u00f4me.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\nJessica \u00a0 Biel<\/strong> \u2013 The \u00a0 2009 Most Dangerous Celebrity rose two spots this year from coming in at \u00a0 number 4 in 2011. Biel continues to be in the spotlight with fianc\u00e9e Justin
\nTimberlake and her role in 2012\u2019s \u201cTotal Recall.\u201d<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3<\/td>\nEva \u00a0 Mendes<\/strong> \u2013 A \u00a0 new addition to the list, Mendes has starred in films including \u201c2 Fast 2 \u00a0 Furious\u201d and \u201cHitch.\u201d She is currently in the news for her fling with Ryan \u00a0 Gosling.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4<\/td>\nSelena \u00a0 Gomez<\/strong> \u2013 \u00a0 The tween musician and actress is best known for her role as Alex Russo on \u00a0 Disney\u2019s \u201cWizards of Waverly Place\u201d and for dating teen heartthrob Justin \u00a0 Bieber. She has been cast in the upcoming film \u201cParental Guidance Suggested\u201d \u00a0 and was recently named one of Forbes\u2019 Top 10 Best Social Media Superstars.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5<\/td>\nHalle \u00a0 Berry<\/strong> \u2013 \u00a0 The Academy Award winning actress is famous for her stand out roles in action \u00a0 and horror films including \u201cCatwoman\u201d and \u201cGothika\u201d. Berry is in the \u00a0 spotlight for her custody battle with baby daddy Gabriel Aubry.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6<\/td>\nMegan \u00a0 Fox<\/strong> \u2013 The \u00a0 sexy actress rose 9 spots compared to her number 15 spot last year. She is \u00a0 currently in the news for her pregnancy with husband Brian Austin Green and \u00a0 will be seen in the upcoming film \u201cThis is 40\u201d.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7<\/td>\nShakira \u00a0 <\/strong>\u2013 The \u00a0 belly-dancing singer\/songwriter best known for her songs \u201cHips Don\u2019t Lie\u201d and \u00a0 \u201cWhenever, Wherever\u201d comes in at number 7. She was recently named one of \u00a0 Forbes\u2019 World\u2019s Most Powerful Women and was ranked number 6 on Forbes\u2019 Top 10 \u00a0 Best Social Media Superstars.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8<\/td>\nCameron \u00a0 Diaz<\/strong> \u2013 \u00a0 2010\u2019s Most Dangerous Celebrity fell to eighth place, with searches resulting \u00a0 in slightly fewer risky sites this year. She was most recently in the \u00a0 spotlight for allegedly dating Alex Rodriguez. She is rumored to star in \u201cExpendables \u00a0 3.\u201d<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9<\/td>\nSalma \u00a0 Hayek <\/strong>\u2013 \u00a0 The actress, producer and director received an Academy Award for her role as \u00a0 Frida Kahlo in \u201cFrida\u201d and recently starred in \u201cSavages.\u201d She is currently in \u00a0 the news for her controversial remarks about her Mexican heritage in a Vogue \u00a0 interview. She is married to billionaire Fran\u00e7ois-Henri Pinault.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10<\/td>\nSofia \u00a0 Vergara<\/strong> \u2013 \u00a0 The Columbian actress and model best known for her comedic role as Gloria \u00a0 Delgado-Pritchett on ABC\u2019s Emmy Award winning \u201cModern Family\u201d rounds out the \u00a0 top 10 list. She also starred in the \u201cThe Three Stooges\u201d film this year and \u00a0 was recently named one of Forbes\u2019 World\u2019s Most Powerful Women and highest \u00a0 paid TV actress. She recently announced her engagement to businessman Nick \u00a0 Loeb.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Paula Greve, director of web research at McAfee, said, \u201cIn today\u2019s celebrity culture, consumers expect to be able to go online to catch up with the latest photos, videos, tweets, and stories about their favourite celebrities. Due to the richness of the data and the high interaction, often times consumers forget the risks that they are taking by clicking on the links.<\/p>\n

As the sophistication and expectations of consumers with respect to their online experience has increased, so has the level and ability to deliver malware either by malvertising, exploiting the user\u2019s browser without their awareness, or masking malicious URLs behind shortened URLs.\u201d
\n
\nBeware of the Supermodel <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Three supermodels have made the top 20 list this year. Searching for downloads of Elle Macpherson (No. 16), Bar Refaeli (No. 17), and Kate Upton (No. 20) can result in landing on a risky site.<\/p>\n

Headlines Don\u2019t Equate to Risk <\/em>
\n<\/strong>
\nTom Cruise, Katie Holmes, Kristen Stewart, and Robert Pattinson were all absent from this year\u2019s top 50 list despite the publicity surrounding the Cruise-Holmes divorce and the Stewart-Pattinson cheating scandal.<\/p>\n

\u201cHot movies and TV shows, awards and industry accolades seem to be more of a factor than headline-grabbing activity,\u201d said Greve. \u201cStill, searching for any celebrity can bring up risky sites and the public should use caution by not clicking on any page that looks suspicious.\u201d<\/p>\n

From One Year to Another
\n<\/em><\/strong>
\nHeidi Klum, Piers Morgan, Mila Kunis, Katherine Heigl, Anna Paquin, Adriana Lima Scarlett Johansson, Brad Pitt, Emma Stone, and Rachel McAdams have all dropped out of this year\u2019s top 10 list (Pitt, Stone, and McAdams tied for No. 10 last year).<\/p>\n

Tips to Stay Protected:<\/strong><\/p>\n