Web warning: Jessica Biel most dangerous celebrity on the internet

August 26, 2009

Casually searching the internet for news or photos of celebrities can put web surfers at risk of downloading a malicious virus onto their computer, internet security experts warn. According to McAfee, Jessica Biel is the most dangerous of celebrity searches.

The internet security company said Tuesday that searches for images, videos and downloads related to Jessica Biel, the former Seventh Heaven actress who is romantically linked with pop star Justin Timberlake, have a one-in-five chance of turning up malware.

Biel's name topped a list of celebrities that hackers and cybercriminals target with websites that can infect visitors with malware - including spyware, Trojans and other threats that can steal a site visitor's personal information from their PC or hijack it as part of a spam network.

Other celebrities on the list include Beyonce, who was second on this year's list and also came in second last year to Brad Pitt. Jennifer Aniston, Tom Brady, Jessica Simpson, Miley Cyrus and Angelina Jolie were also near the top for dangerous searches.

"Cybercriminals are star watchers too - they latch onto popular celebrities to encourage the download of malicious software in disguise," said Jeff Green, senior vice president of McAfee Avert Labs.

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