According to McAfee’s global study, actress Ruby Rose, who played Stella Carlin in the Netflix series
Orange is the New Black, replaced singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne as the most dangerous celebrity to search for online in 2018. Reality TV star, Kristin Cavallari finished behind Rose at No. 2, followed by actress Marion Cotillard (No. 3), the original
Wonder Woman Lynda Carter (No. 4), actress Rose Byrne (No. 5), star of
Will and Grace Debra Messing (No. 6), reality TV star Kourtney Kardashian (No. 7), actress Amber Heard (No. 8), morning TV show host Kelly Ripa (No. 9), and finally actor Brad William Henke round out the top 10.
Zooming in to Singapore, actor Paul Rudd of Ant-Man fame topped the list as the city state’s most dangerous celebrity. Yikes!
Paul was followed by R&B singer Sabrina Claudio at No. 2, who preceded Australian actor Hugh Jackman (No. 3), most famous for his role as Wolverine. Reality TV stars, sisters Kim and Khloe Kardashian come in at No. 4 and 5 respectively, while Scarlett Johansson, who plays Black Widow in the Avengers films, kept up at No. 6.
Rounding off the list are musician Adele (No. 7), Emma Watson of the Harry Potter film series (No. 8), celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay (No. 9), and Benedict Cumberbatch (No. 10), who plays Marvel’s Doctor Strange.
It’s no secret that cybercriminals attempt to use the allure of celebrity to trick unsuspecting consumers into visiting malicious websites that can be used to install malware or steal personal information and passwords. McAfee's study, highlights the dangers of clicking on suspicious links when searching for celebrity-centric content.
“We live in a fast-paced world that’s heavily influenced by pop culture where it’s possible to pick and choose which entertainment options we prefer to enjoy from a variety of connected devices,” said Gary Davis, McAfee's chief consumer security evangelist.
“Often consumers put speed and convenience over security by clicking on suspicious links that promise content featuring our favorite celebrities, such as our favorite movies, TV shows or pictures. In our hyper-connected world, it’s important for consumers to think before they click to be sure that they are landing on safe digital content and protecting themselves from cybersecurity threats that may be used to infect their devices or steal their identity.”
Be careful. Your Marvel superhero may end up crashing your computer or worse... stealing all your personal and financial information.
Here are 3 tips on how to search safely.
1. Be careful what you click. This is the most simple and straightforward.
2. Apply system and application updates as soon as they are available. Very often the operating system and application updates include security fixes. Applying updates is an important step to help ensure devices stay protected.
3. Browse with security protection such as McAfee Total Protection or any kind of anti-virus program.