McAfee, Inc. Names Most Dangerous Celebrities in Cyberspace

McAfee's Latest Research Names Hollywood's Most Celebrated Dad Brad Pitt as Riskiest Celebrity to Search for on the Web

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept. 16 -- Brad Pitt has overtaken Paris Hilton as the most dangerous celebrity to search for in cyberspace according to Internet security company McAfee. For the second year running, McAfee entered the glamorous world of Hollywood to reveal the riskiest celebrities in cyberspace.

Checking in on your famous friends is not only a guilty pleasure, but seriously dangerous for your PC. Fans searching for "Brad Pitt," "Brad Pitt downloads," and Brad Pitt wallpaper, screen savers and pictures have an 18% chance of having their PCs infected with online threats, such as spyware, spam, phishing, adware, viruses and other malware.

Cybercriminals are using A-listers' names and images, like Beyonce and Justin Timberlake, to lure Internet users who surf the Web for the latest gossip, screen savers and ringtones to "fake" Web sites that look legitimate.

Actors Brad Pitt and Justin Timberlake are the most dangerous men to seek on the Internet, while Beyonce and Heidi Montag top the list for women. Paris Hilton, who topped 2007's most dangerous celebrities, is noticeably absent from this year's list. Also absent is Britney Spears who was ranked #4 in 2007.

In their second annual report, McAfee compiled the list, using the McAfee(R) SiteAdvisor(R) technology, of Hollywood celebrity names that produce the largest number of risky sites when searched for on the Web. The list includes:

  Position      Celebrity
  1             Brad Pitt -- When "Brad Pitt screensavers" was searched,
                more than half of the resulting Web sites were identified
                as containing malicious downloads with spyware, adware and
                potential viruses.
  2             Beyonce -- Inputting "Beyonce ringtones" into a search
                engine yields risky Web sites that promote misleading
                offers to gather consumers' personal information.
  3             Justin Timberlake -- Interest in his high-profile
                relationships makes him an easy target for spammers and
                hackers. When searching for "Justin Timberlake downloads"
                one Web site advertised free music downloads that were
                flagged as directly leading to spam, spyware and adware.
  4             Heidi Montag -- "The Hills" star is a popular search term
                when it comes to searching for wallpaper. A host of
                wallpaper Web sites contained hundreds of malware-laden
                downloads.
  5             Mariah Carey -- Spammers and hackers are using Mariah Carey
                screen saver Web sites to link to other sites proven to
                contain spyware, adware and other threatening downloads.
  6             Jessica Alba -- Red-ranked risky sites were identified when
                searching for "Jessica Alba" and "Jessica Alba downloads."
                The sites contained hundreds of malicious downloads, links
                to other bad sites, misleading offers to gather
                information, and a high number of spam emails when an email
                address was provided.
  7             Lindsay Lohan -- This young Hollywood starlet is as
                dangerous to search online as she is famous. Searching for
                "Lindsay Lohan downloads" resulted in several dangerous Web
                sites laden with hidden adware.
  8             Cameron Diaz -- Cybercriminals use download Web sites
                related to Cameron Diaz's image to link to other harmful
                sites containing spyware.
  9             George Clooney, Rihanna -- The technology found one Web
                site embedded with hundreds of dangerous wallpaper and
                photo downloads after inputting "George Clooney downloads."
                "Rihanna pictures" was also a risky search term, as McAfee
                identified a site that spammed its test email address.
  11            Angelina Jolie -- When "Angelina Jolie downloads" was
                searched, the software highlighted a risky site with 978
                hidden malware-infected wallpaper and photo downloads, as
                well as links to other potentially dangerous URLs.
  12            Fergie -- A Fergie screen saver site was flagged as
                offering 111 risky downloads that could seriously
                compromise a PC's privacy with unwanted spyware and adware.
  13            David Beckham, Katie Holmes -- The "David Beckham" search
                term generated a great deal of wallpaper and screen saver
                downloads veiled with malware. Consumers should also
                exercise caution when searching for "Katie Holmes" online
                -- one download site advertised free screen savers that, if
                downloaded, would infect your computer with malicious
                programs like spyware.
  15            Katherine Heigl -- Hollywood's big headliner in recent
                years is now susceptible to Internet lurkers too.
                "Katherine Heigl" was searched and a site was identified
                containing hundreds of malware-infected pictures.

"Cybercriminals employ numerous methods, yet one of the simplest but most effective ways is to trick consumers into infecting themselves by capitalizing on Americans' interest in celebrity gossip," said Jeff Green, Senior Vice President of McAfee's Product Development & Avert Labs. "Tapping into current events, pop culture or commonly browsed sites is an easy way to achieve this. And because of Americans' obsession with following celebrities' lifestyles, they are an obvious target. We have to take precautions in casually navigating the Web since many subtle sites may be rife with malware for consumers' computers."

McAfee SiteAdvisor technology

McAfee SiteAdvisor tests and rates, on an ongoing basis, nearly every trafficked site on the Internet. SiteAdvisor site ratings are created by using patented advanced technology to conduct automated Web site tests. In addition, as part of the user community forum function, users can provide direct feedback to other users and to McAfee analysts regarding their personal experience about the sites they visit on the Internet. McAfee SiteAdvisor can be downloaded quickly and for free at http://www.mcafee.com/siteadvisor. McAfee SiteAdvisor works with Internet Explorer and Firefox.

SiteAdvisor has received numerous honors, including: five-star reviews from CNET's download.com, Time Magazine's "50 Coolest Web Sites," Popular Science's "Best of What's New" and the U.S. Department of Commerce's "Recognition of Excellence in Innovation" honor.

About McAfee, Inc.

McAfee, Inc., headquartered in Santa Clara, California, is the world's largest dedicated security technology company. It delivers proactive and proven solutions and services that secure systems and networks around the world, allowing users to browse and shop the Web securely. With its unmatched security expertise and commitment to innovation, McAfee empowers home users, businesses, the public sector and service providers by enabling them to comply with regulations, protect data, prevent disruptions, identify vulnerabilities and continuously monitor and improve their security. http://www.mcafee.com/.

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