PALIN MITENK BLOG

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Beautiful danger: Heidi Klum may be one of the world's most beautiful women but searching for her name online leads to more malicious sites than any other star

Supermodel and TV host Heidi Klum has been named as the most dangerous celebrity in cyberspace, inviting malware and viruses to flourish on computers.

Internet security firm McAfee said searching for downloads and screensavers for the Project Runway judge and former Victoria's Secret model, 38, runs a nearly one in 10 chance of landing on a malicious website.

The sites are infected with spyware, spam, phishing and other viruses especially designed to steal personal information.


Cyber stars: Cameron Diaz, left, and Piers Morgan came second and third on the McAfee list that draws attention to viruses linked to celebrity names

CNN talk show host Piers Morgan, 46, a judge on America's Got Talent and former newspaper editor, was the most dangerous male celebrity in the survey, produced annually by McAfee.

McAfee said cyber criminals often used the name of popular celebrities to lure people to websites that are laden with malicious software.

It said singers and sports stars tended to be safer searches than movie stars and models. Cameron Diaz, 39, topped the cyberspace danger list in 2010, and came second this year.


Pretty malicious: Jessica Biel, left, and Katherine Heigl are also named. Searches lead users to viruses that can spread through shortened URLs

'While slightly safer than last year, searching for top celebrities continues to generate risky results,' said Paula Greve, director of Web security research at McAfee.

'Consumers should be particularly aware of malicious content hiding in "tiny" places likes shortened URLs that can spread virally in social networking sites, or through e-mails and text messages.'


Actresses Emma Stone, Scarlett Johansson and Mila Kunis also fare badly when it comes to cyber crime, as does actor Brad Pitt.

Making news headlines does not seem to be a factor. Charlie Sheen was ranked 59 in the 2011 list, despite his acrimonious departure from television show, Two and A Half Men, and Lindsay Lohan was 18th despite being in and out of court and jail again this year.

source: dailymail