The 10 most dangerous celebrity internet searches

Female comedian superstar Amy Schumer is the most dangerous celebrity to search for online, according this year's "McAfee Most Dangerous Celebrities" study, published by Intel Security. While employers hope their employees are not searching for entertainment at work, security and IT directors must be aware of this data and communicate it to organizations, as many search results leads to malicious websites that could expose users to viruses and malware.

Savvy cybercriminals continue to leverage consumers’ ongoing fascination with celebrity news – such as award and TV shows as well as movie premieres, album releases, celebrity breakups and more – to entice unsuspecting fans to visit sites loaded with malware that can steal passwords and personal information. The study highlights various ways hackers can take advantage of employees' interest around pop culture news, the risks of their online behavior and how to best protect themselves from potential threats.

“Consumers today remain fascinated with celebrity culture and go online to find the latest pop culture news,” Intel Security's Gary Davis said in a statement. “With this craving for real-time information, many search and click without considering potential security risks. Cybercriminals know this and take advantage of this behavior by attempting to lead them to unsafe sites loaded with malware."

Schumer is followed on the list by Justin Bieber and Carson Daly. A search for ‘Amy Schumer Torrent’ results in a 33-percent chance of connecting to a malicious website. The report urges users to use caution when searching for “torrent,” which is by far the riskiest search term. Cybercriminals can use torrents to embed malware within authentic files making it difficult to determine if a file is safe. 

The top 10 celebrities from this year’s study with the highest risk percentages include:

To learn more about the study, visit https://blogs.mcafee.com/consumer/most-dangerous-celebrities-2016.