Avril Lavigne is the 2017 McAfee Most Dangerous Celebrity™

NEWS
HIGHLIGHTS

·  Musician Avril Lavigne ranked No. 1 on
the McAfee Most Dangerous Celebrities™ 2017 study

·  In Asia Pacific, actor Shah Rukh Khan
came out top as the most dangerous celebrity

·  Study reveals which celebrities generate
the most dangerous results that could expose consumers to malicious websites
and malware

·  Searching for “Celebrity Name + free mp3”
generated the most potentially malicious websites and helped musicians dominate
the list

SINGAPORE,
Sept. 19, 2017 – Female singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne replaced comedian, Amy
Schumer as the most dangerous celebrity to search for online. In Asia Pacific,
Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan has taken over Indonesian singer, Anggun, as the
region’s most dangerous celebrity. For the eleventh year in a row, McAfee
researched famous individuals to reveal the riskiest celebrity to search for
online. While the top ten “most dangerous” historically have included a mix of
musicians, actors and TV hosts, this year’s research identified musicians as
the top ten “most dangerous”. The research reveals which celebrities generate
the riskiest search results that could potentially expose their fans to
malicious websites.

Avril Lavigne
has sold more than 40 million albums worldwide, and is the second best-selling
female artist in Canada of all time. Today, Lavigne adds “first female musician
to take the No. 1 spot on the McAfee Most Dangerous Celebrities study” to her
achievements. Lavigne was ranked number two in 2013 finishing behind Lily
Collins on the list. Bruno Mars (No. 2) made his debut this year in second
place followed closely behind by 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.

Cybercriminals
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. 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.

“In today’s
digital world, we want the latest hit albums, videos, movies and more,
immediately available on our devices,” said David Freer, Vice President,
Consumer APAC at McAfee. “Consumers in Asia Pacific often prioritize their
convenience over security by engaging in risky behavior 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.”

The global
music market grew nearly 6% in 2016, so it’s clear that music
continues to be a big part of the daily lives of consumers, so it’s no surprise
that the top 10 celebrities are from the music industry. As artists go on tour,
and release new albums and songs, the appetite for more content from these
singer-songwriters continues to grow.

The top 10
celebrities from this year’s global study with the highest risk percentage are:

The top 10
celebrities from this year’s Asia Pacific study with the highest risk
percentage are:

While the
2017 McAfee Most Dangerous Celebrities global study was dominated by musicians
several actors and actresses found their way onto the list including Anna
Kendrick (No. 13), Jennifer Lopez (No. 20), Hailee Steinfeld (No. 23), Will
Smith (No. 34), Jackie Chan (No. 38), Vanessa Hudgens (No. 44), Teyana Taylor
(No. 45), and Zendaya (No. 50).

In contrast
to the global study that saw musicians dominating the top 10, the Asia Pacific
study found four actors making it into the top ten. These actors include, Shah
Rukh Khan (No. 1), Jackie Chan (No. 4), Anushka Sharma (No. 7) and Donnie Yen
(No. 10).

·  Be careful what you click. Are you looking for a sneak-peak at Avril
Lavigne’s rumored 2017 album? It’s better to wait for the official release than
to visit a third-party website that could contain malware.

·  Searching for free MP3s? Watch out! Searching for “free MP3” returned the
highest number of risky websites, so it’s important for consumers to be
vigilant and ensure they are searching safely.

·  Browse with security protection like
McAfee WebAdvisor. This
McAfee tool can help keep you safe by identifying malicious websites and
warning the user before they click. Download this free tool here:https://mcafee.com/mcafeewebadvisor.

·  Use cross-device protection. As our daily activities become more
ingrained in our digital lives it’s important to keep everything protected. A
comprehensive security solution, like McAfee
Total Protection,
can help ensure that your devices are protected against malware, phishing
attacks and
device-specific protection in the event of loss or theft.

·  To learn more about the study, check out:

o Blog post from Gary Davis: https://securingtomorrow.mcafee.com/consumer/most-dangerous-celebrities-2017/

o Twitter: Follow @McAfee_Home for online
safety tips, and use the hashtag #RiskyCeleb to discuss the Most Dangerous
Celebrities of 2017

McAfee
conducted the study using McAfee WebAdvisor site ratings to determine 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. “Most dangerous” really means that these
celebrities are likely popular search subjects.

Search terms
included:

·  “Celebrity Name + free torrent”

·  “Celebrity Name + free mp4”

·  “Celebrity Name + free mp3”

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