Avril Lavigne is the ‘most dangerous celebrity on the internet’ – Mcafee

SHE’S one of the biggest names in the music industry, but it seems that Avril Lavigne is more dangerous than “complicated”. A new study has revealed the most dangerous celebrities to search for online that could potentially expose fans to malicious websites.

Several musicians feature alongside Avril Lavigne in the top ten, including Bruno Mars, Carly Rae Jepson and Katy Perry.

The study, conducted by Mcafee and now in its 11th year, highlights the dangers of clicking on suspicious links when searching for celebrity-focused content. Many of these sites can infect computers with viruses and malware.

It found that Avril Lavigne is the “most dangerous celebrity on the internet”.

While Lavigne was ranked number two in 2013, finishing behind Lily Collins, she topped the list this year, followed by Bruno Mars (No 2) and Carly Rae Jepsen (No 3). Musicians Zayn Malik (No 4), Celine Dion (No 5), Calvin Harris (No 6), Justin Bieber (No 7), Diddy (No 8), Katy Perry (No 9) and Beyoncé (No 10) round out the rest of the top 10 list.

Cyber-criminals continue to use the fascination of consumers with celebrity culture to drive unsuspecting users to potentially malicious websites that can be used to install malware, steal personal information and even passwords, according to Mcafee.

Gary Davis, head of consumer security at Mcafee said: “In today’s digital world, we want the latest hit albums, videos, movies and more, immediately available on our devices. Consumers often prioritise their convenience over security by engaging in risky behaviour like clicking on suspicious links that promise the latest content from celebrities.

“It’s imperative that they slow down and consider the risks associated with searching for downloadable content.

“Thinking before clicking goes a long way to stay safe online,” he said.

Mcafee determined the number of risky websites generated by searches on Google, Bing and Yahoo!, that included a celebrity name and search terms likely to yield potentially malicious websites in the results.

An overall risk percentage was calculated for each celebrity using the total number of risky websites, divided by the number of search results returned.

– Daily Mail