Top 10 Most Dangerous Celebrities on the Web

Today, McAfee posted it’s 2012 most dangerous celebrities on the internet list, and Emma Watson has officially topped Heidi Klum as the most dangerous person to look for on the net.  Specifically, the odds that you’ll get a virus or malware infection are much higher if you search for her than if you did a search for, say, Toby Jones. Oddly enough, all the people on this year’s top ten are women, with the first guy being Jimmy Kimmel at number 13. Hit the jump for the full list.Here’s an excerpt from the press release from Mcafee, which includes some tips to keep your computer clean and healthy:

Searching for Latinas is Risky

Eva Mendes (No. 3), Selena Gomez (No. 4), Shakira (No. 7), Salma Hayek (No. 9), and Sofia Vergara (No. 10) make up 5 of the top 10 most dangerous celebrities on the list.

Women are More Dangerous Than Men

Jimmy Kimmel (No. 13) is the only man to make the top 20, with Piers Morgan and Brad Pitt dropping off of the list from No. 3 and No. 10 respectively.

Beware of the Supermodel

Three supermodels have made the top 20 list this year. Searching for downloads of Elle Macpherson (No. 16), Bar Refaeli (No. 17), and Kate Upton (No. 20) can result in landing on a risky site.

Musicians are Not Safe

Young female artists are definitely a draw to malware and risky websites. Selena Gomez (No. 4), Shakira (No. 7), and Taylor Swift (No. 15) all rank in the top 20.

Headlines Don’t Equate to Risk

Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, Kristen Stewart, and Robert Pattinson were all absent from this year’s top 50 list despite the publicity surrounding the Cruise-Holmes divorce and the Stewart-Pattinson cheating scandal.

“Hot movies and TV shows, awards and industry accolades seem to be more of a factor than headline-grabbing activity,” said Greve. “Still, searching for any celebrity can bring up risky sites and the public should use caution by not clicking on any page that looks suspicious.”

From One Year to Another

Heidi Klum, Piers Morgan, Mila Kunis, Katherine Heigl, Anna Paquin, Adriana Lima Scarlett Johansson, Brad Pitt, Emma Stone, and Rachel McAdams have all dropped out of this year’s top 10 list (Pitt, Stone, and McAdams tied for No. 10 last year).

Tips to Stay Protected:

• Beware of content that prompts you to download anything before providing you with content. You may want to opt to watch streaming videos or download content from an established site, such as Hulu, Netflix, NBC, or ABCtv.

• Free downloads are significantly the highest virus-prone search terms. Anyone searching for videos or files to download should be careful as not to unleash malware on their computer.