Beware of ‘Alexis’
Sophie Turner also tops list of stars likely to take users to websites with malware
Actress Alexis Bledel has been bookish and sweet on Gilmore Girls and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. But the actress herself is now officially dangerous.
Cybersecurity firm McAfee on Monday crowned Bledel the most dangerous celebrity on the internet in 2019. No other celebrity was more likely to land users on websites that carry viruses or malware.
Trailing Bledel at No 2 is talk show host James Corden, followed by Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner, actress Anna Kendrick, movie star Lupita Nyong’o, talk show star Jimmy Fallon, martial arts master Jackie Chan, the rappers Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj, and finally Marvel actress Tessa Thompson at No 10.
The survey is meant to highlight the danger of clicking on suspicious links. Bad actors will attach malware and malicious links to famous names, hoping fans searching for videos on the internet will fall victim. McAfee urges internet users to consider risks associated with searching for pirated content and always apply updated security fixes.
“Consumers may not be fully aware that the searches they conduct pose risk, nor may they understand the detrimental effects that can occur when personal information is compromised in exchange for access to their favourite celebrities, movies, TV shows or music,” Gary Davis, chief consumer security evangelist at McAfee, said in a statement.
Davis explained that Bledel and Turner likely landed on the list this year due to their respective roles in the popular shows The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu and Game of Thrones on HBO, both subscriber-based services.