Soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo tops 'Most Dangerous Celebrity' list, Tabu & Taapsee Pannu follow

Football sensation Cristiano Ronaldo is the most dangerous celebrity to search for according to McAfee’s annual report. Let's find out who else made the cut…

Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo has topped many lists. But this one definitely has less bragging rights. He tops India list of most dangerous celebrities to search for online. For the fourteenth year, McAfee researched which famous names generate the riskiest search results that could potentially trigger consumers to unknowingly install malware on their devices.

Best of the worst
While a footballer has topped the list this year, Bollywood stars still make up the largest chunk of this year’s Top 10.

Trailing Ronaldo as the No. 2 most dangerous celebrity is veteran actress Tabu, gaining recent popularity for her roles in critically acclaimed movies like Andhadhun and A Suitable Boy. Following her is Taapsee Pannu at No.3, best known for portraying strong female characters with movie choices like Pink and Thappad. Following her are leading Bollywood actresses like Anushka Sharma at No. 4 and Sonakshi Sinha at No. 5.

Also making the top ten is millennial heartthrob and Indian singer Armaan Malik at No. 6, closely followed by the young and bubbly Sara Ali Khan at No. 7. Rounding out the rest of the top ten are popular TV soap actress Divyanka Tripathi at No. 8, the King of Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khanat No. 9 and Bollywood’s beloved playback singer Arijit Singh at No 10.


Cyber criminals close behind
“As consumers scout the web for free entertainment now more than ever, cybercriminals trail close behind, capitalising on this interest. Unsuspecting users often look for free and pirated content such as major sports events, movies, TV shows, along with images and leaked videos of their favourite celebs. Bad actors leverage consumers’ fascination with pop culture and drive unsuspecting fans to malicious websites that install malware on their devices, potentially putting personal information at risk,” said Venkat Krishnapur, vice president of Engineering and managing director, McAfee India.

In 2020, owing to the COVID-19 induced lockdown, Indians have been particularly active online, increasing their usage across many devices and scouring the internet for a wide variety of entertainment. From free movies and TV shows to the latest celebrity news and gossip, consumers turned to digital celebrity content to entertain themselves. Hackers too, honed-in on this trend, following consumer behaviour to execute their scam strategies.

HOW TO STAY SAFE

Be careful what you click. Users looking for the latest releases, as well as updates on their favourite celebrities, should be cautious and only click on links to reliable sources. The safest thing to do is to wait for official releases and leverage legitimate TV and movie streaming platforms.

Refrain from illegal streaming and downloading suspicious mp3s. It is important to only use legitimate music and movie streaming platforms, even if they come at a cost. Many illegal downloads are riddled with malware or adware disguised as mp3 files.

Protect your online safety with a cybersecurity solution. Safeguard yourself from cybercriminals with a comprehensive security solution. This can help protect you from malware, phishing attacks, and other threats.

Use parental control software. Kids are fans of celebrities too, so ensure that limits are set for your child on their devices and use parental control software to help minimise exposure to potentially malicious or inappropriate websites.