Privacy, Security & Virus Information
Katie Price and Jude Law are the
most dangerous UK celebrities in cyberspace
Katie Price reigns supreme as the UK celebrity most likely to cause web surfers problems,
while nice-guy Peter Andre fails to make the top ten.
Katie Price’s high-profile canoodling with “new love”, cage fighter Alex Reid, is not only putting her reputation at risk, but also the fans scouring the Internet for the latest gossip about her.
Brits searching for the latest updates on Katie’s antics have a one in six chance (16.3%) of clicking on a dodgy website, loaded with malware, spyware and viruses that can infiltrate computers with the goal of making money or committing ID theft.
In contrast to Katie Price, her mild-mannered, ex-partner Peter Andre has been left far down the target list for cybercriminals. He sits in fourteenth position, with online users facing just a one in 20 chance (6.2%) of clicking on something risky.
Jude Law has jumped to second place in the UK chart as a result of the news that actress and model Samantha Burke is pregnant with his child. Supermodel Kate Moss continues to capture public and cybercrook interest, coming in at fourth. Her party-pal Lily Allen is still playing catch-up in the popularity stakes, trailing eight places behind her.
Victoria’s new role on American Idol and David’s fall-out with LA Galaxy ensured that the Beckhams both scored a strong top five position, highlighting the couple’s ability to stay in the spotlight with fans and cybercriminals, despite now living on the other side of the Atlantic.
Despite their scandals and tantrums, our UK celebs thankfully still trail their US counterparts when it comes to being dangerous in cyberspace. Katie Price and Jude Law are the only UK starlets that would make it in to a US top 15 headed up by Jessica Biel, whose website links carry a one in five (20.1%) risk factor. The actress seized the top spot from Brad Pitt, last year’s number one, following her high-profile relationship with Justin Timberlake. Brad Pitt (15th place – 14.9%) and NFL star Tom Brady (3rd place – 17.9%) are the only men to break in to a US top 15 dominated by female celebrities.
Greg Day, Principal Security Analyst EMEA, McAfee, said: “Cybercrooks capitalising on the public obsession with celebrities and current events is nothing new. Week-in-week-out, we see online scams linked in to dodgy emails, websites and Twitter updates, which are closely linked to the latest celebrity gossip and high-profile news stories. A quick flick across the front pages of the latest popular newspapers and magazines offers a fairly reliable snapshot of where the criminals will focus their efforts next.
“Those searching online can steer clear of risky websites and stay one step ahead of the scammers simply my downloading McAfee's SiteAdvisor tool and only clicking through to those links identified as safe.”
Internet users can download McAfee SiteAdvisor for free – the easy-to-use traffic light system that flags up what’s safe and what’s unsafe online – to avoid picking up more than just the latest celebrity gossip.
| UK 2009 Position |
Celebrity |
Risk % |
| 1 |
Katie Price |
16.3 |
| 2 |
Jude Law |
15.4 |
| 3 |
Victoria Beckham |
13.6 |
| 4 |
Kate Moss |
12.6 |
| 5 |
David Beckham |
12.1 |
| 6 |
Daniel Radcliffe |
12 |
| 7 |
Kerry Katona |
9 |
| 8 |
Amy Winehouse |
8.6 |
| 9 |
Cheryl Cole |
8.5 |
| 10 |
Leona Lewis |
8.3 |
| 11 |
Daniel Craig |
8.1 |
| 12 |
Lilly Allen |
7.4 |
| 13 |
Sadie Frost |
6.7 |
| 14 |
Peter Andre |
6.2 |
| 14 |
Prince Harry |
6.2 |
| 15 |
Wayne Rooney |
4.8 |
|
|
| US 2009 Position |
Celebrity |
Risk % |
| 1 |
Jessica Biel
|
20.1
|
| 2 |
Beyonce
|
17.9 |
| 3 |
Tom Brady |
17.4 |
| 4 |
Jessica Simpson |
17.6 |
| 5 |
Jennifer Aniston |
12.3 |
| 6 |
Gisele Bundchen |
15.8 |
| 7 |
Miley Cyrus |
15.5 |
| 8 |
Megan Fox |
15.3 |
| 8 |
Angelina Jolie |
15.3 |
| 9 |
Ashley Tidsdale |
14.9 |
| 10 |
Brad Pitt |
14.8 |
| 11 |
Reece Witherspoon |
14.4 |
| 12 |
Britney Spears |
14.3 |
| 13 |
Rihanna |
14.1 |
| 14 |
Lindsay Lohan |
14 |
| 15 |
Kim Kardashian |
13.8 |
|
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