Heidi Klum the 'most dangerous' celeb on the Net
According to security firm McAfee, nearly 10 percent of search results related to Heidi Klum are malicious.
Move over, Cameron Diaz, there's a new leader in the race to be the "world's most dangerous celebrity."
Former Victoria's Secret model and current host of "Project Runway," Heidi Klum is the Internet's "most dangerous celebrity," security firm McAfee announced today. According to McAfee, when people type Klum-related queries into a search engine, nearly 10 percent of the results are "malicious."
"Fans searching for 'Heidi Klum and downloads,' 'Heidi Klum and 'free' downloads,' 'Heidi Klum and screensavers,' 'Heidi Klum and hot pictures' and 'Heidi Klum and videos' are at risk of running into online threats designed to steal personal information," McAfee said today in a statement. "Clicking on these risky sites and downloading files like photos, videos or screensavers exposes surfers or consumers to the risk of downloading viruses and malware."
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By taking the top spot, Klum has dethroned last year's most dangerous celebrity, Cameron Diaz. But Diaz didn't drop down very far. According to McAfee, she was the second-most-dangerous celebrity. Piers Morgan, the journalist who took over for Larry King's time slot on CNN, was the third-most-dangerous celebrity in McAfee's study. McAfee's 2009 winner Jessica Biel and Katherine Heigl rounded out the top five in fourth and fifth place, respectively.
Luckily, not every celebrity query is so unsafe. According to McAfee, "sports stars and singers are safer" for users to search for. Tennis stars Maria Sharapova and Andy Roddick, which were in 13th and 14th place, respectively, last year, have dropped to 44th and 56th in this year's study. Singers Rihanna and Carrie Underwood are tied in 51st place this year, followed by Lady Gaga in the 58th spot.
But the risks don't end when people aren't searching the Web. According to Paula Greve, director of Web security at McAfee, "consumers should be particularly aware of malicious content hiding in 'tiny' places like shortened URLs that can spread virally in social networking sites, or through e-mails and text messages from friends."