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Cameron Diaz 'riskiest' celeb on the Net

Diaz replaces Jessica Biel as the riskiest celebrity to search for on the Internet, according to the latest report from McAfee.

Lance Whitney Contributing Writer
Lance Whitney is a freelance technology writer and trainer and a former IT professional. He's written for Time, CNET, PCMag, and several other publications. He's the author of two tech books--one on Windows and another on LinkedIn.
Lance Whitney
2 min read

Cameron Diaz fans, look out. The actress has made McAfee's list as the most dangerous celebrity to search for in cyberspace.

Cameron Diaz is the riskest celebrity to search for online.
Cameron Diaz is the riskest celebrity to search for online. McAfee

Released Thursday, McAfee's fourth annual Most Dangerous Celebrities report tracked the top performers, models, and other celebrities that cybercriminals use to trick people into hitting malicious Web sites. Search for a hot photo or the latest gossip on your favorite star, and you could find your PC infected with a payload of malware instead.

In grabbing this "award," Diaz bumped last year's riskiest celebrity, Jessica Biel, to the No. 3 spot.

Being No. 1 in this case means that anyone searching for Diaz downloads and photos has a 10 percent chance of stumbling onto a Web site that's tested positive for viruses, spyware, adware, and spam. Combining the terms "Cameron Diaz" and "screensavers" yielded search results in which 19 percent of the sites discovered were brimming with malware.

McAfee uses its SiteAdvisor ratings to compile which sites are riskiest when looking for celebrities. The list typically looks at actors, athletes, musicians, politicians, and other members of the rich and famous. Movie stars and models were at the top on the risky scale, while politicians such as Barack Obama and Sarah Palin were among the safest to search for, coming in at No. 49 and No. 50, respectively.

Joining Diaz on the list were several popular performers and models, including Oscar-winning actress Julia Roberts in second place, Angelina Jolie's main squeeze Brad Pitt in fifth, and "True Blood" star Anna Paquin rounding up the top ten.

McAfee