Celebrity websites harbour the most malware, says McAfee
Last month I reported that people searching for US Ryder Cup stars were likely to be lured into web sites containing malware. According to the security software firm McAfee celeb sites in general are the number one place for fans to be infected with malicious software.
Traditionally the porn site was blamed for much of this, but McAffee’s survey suggests that such sites have fallen to a lowly third place overall, with celebrity sites (fake ones, at least) at number one, and screen saver sites at number two. Many search engine queries on famous names led straight to malicious sites.
Whilst the results are based on proprietary software – McAfee’s SiteAdvisor antiphishing browser plugin – it doesn’t surprise me. Celebs are hot news offline (it’s what primarily sells tabloids and glossy mags, after all) so why shouldn’t it be so online.
Got a celebrity craving? Stay safe and get your Pop Junkie, Star Trip, TV Scoop and footie fixes straight from Shiny.
