Jimmy Kimmel is the Most Risky Celebrity to Search for Online
There are many facets of popular stories to search for on the Internet as well as popular celebrities that eventually lead you down a path of endless posts, sites and images. Sometimes, it is even fun to explore the latest gossip and Hollywood happenings of celebrities. Unfortunately, performing Internet searches for a celebrity like Jimmy Kimmel has claimed to be one of the most dangerous things you go can on the internet in terms of potentially infecting your computer with malware.
In a recent pop culture research test that examines pages for threats, McAfee has revealed that searches for Jimmy Kimmel return the most pages or sites that test positive for viruses and other malware.
Jimmy Kimmel, known for being in the Hollywood limelight as a comedian, actor, screenwriter, producer, television host and other various personalities, is probably best known for his Jimmy Kimmel Live late-night talk show on ABC. Hackers are very aware of his fame and popularity and are cashing in on his popularity on the internet by flooding it with malicious sites. These sites are ones that take advantage of those who may search for Jimmy Kimmel through many different search engines.
The technique of leveraging the behavior of a large population of internet users is something was used for many years. Now days, even with the advancements of search engines in detecting and filtering out malicious sites, they still appear on search results especially when the subject is someone as popular as Jimmy Kimmel.
Consumers, who search for Jimmy Kimmel, among many other popular celebrities, are completely unaware of the security risks that exist when clicking on sites that offer up related celeb and entertainment news. Many times doing image searches for someone like Jimmy Kimmel and clicking on the results will end up redirecting one's web browsers to a site that looks legitimate but is designed to spread malware aggressively.
Some of the malware threats installed on systems from landing on a so-called entertainment site with a subject revolving around someone like Jimmy Kimmel, are applications designed t to steal data, which could arm a hacker with login credentials to a banking account or email.
McAfee's findings listing out the most dangerous celebrities in 2014 to search for on the internet, as shown in the chart above, should be a teaching lesson for all of us. It should serve as a message to never believe everything you see or read on the internet, and to be cautious with each popular or enticing story you see related to your favorite celebrity.