Amy Schumer and Justin Bieber the most dangerous celebs online

28 Sep 2016

Amy Schumer. Image: Featureflash Photo Agency/Shutterstock

A list of celebrity names used most often to spread malware has been released, with Amy Schumer, Justin Bieber, Carson Daly, Will Smith and Rihanna as the top five.

Intel has named Amy Schumer as the most dangerous celebrity to search online, with the company’s McAfee ranking finding the comedian’s name linked to a growing number of malware-hosting websites.

The table lists which celebrities generate the most dangerous search results, exposing users to viruses and malware through casual browsing, by landing on dodgy, third-party web pages.

“Consumers today remain fascinated with celebrity culture and go online to find the latest pop culture news,” said Gary Davis, chief consumer security evangelist at Intel Security.

“With this craving for real-time information, many search and click without considering potential security risks.”

Cybercriminals, said Davis, know our browsing habits all too well, attempting to lead us to “unsafe sites loaded with malware”.

What is perhaps most interesting is how torrents are being targeted, with a simple search for ‘Amy Schumer Torrent’ resulting in a one-in-three chance of landing on a malicious website.

Intel’s advice is to keep it all legit, by using original sources rather than third-party content. With Amy Schumer, for example, watching her show on Comedycentral.com is far more advisable than some other streaming website.

Of course, given the internationally bordered access to content on legitimate websites, this is not always the easiest thing to do.

Avoiding torrents is another nugget of Intel’s advice, noting the difficulty in determining just how safe a downloaded file is.

“It’s best to avoid using torrents, especially when there are so many legitimate streaming options available,” said the company.

The top 10 celebrities from this year’s study with the highest risk percentages include: