Celeb Name Searches May Carry Unwanted Payload

[engine]

Celeb Name Searches May [reuters.com]Carry Unwanted Payload

Looking for information about Brad Pitt or Beyonce on the Web? It could be risky.

An internet security firm has dubbed the actor and singer the most dangerous celebrities to search for on the Internet because cybercriminals use their names to lure victims.

California-based McAfee Inc. said fans searching for information and pictures of Pitt, or downloads, wallpaper and screen savers, have an 18 percent chance of having their PCs infected with a virus, spyware, spam, phishing and adware.

[JerryOdom]

Fun article. Probably not news to most seasoned folks here.

[LifeinAsia]

See? You too can get a virus from [insert name of disreputable celebrity]! Think of the bragging rights. :)

[wyweb]

Oh great. Now you tell me.

[GaryK]

I did a search for Jerry Seinfeld and wound up with some virus called Vista.

[g1smd]

^ LOL ^

See? Americans can do sarcasm.

[Automan Empire]

Yup, teenage stepdaughter completely hosed 2 XP machines, while "never surfing anywhere."

Viruses, worms, etc so bad I had to do a clean Windows install on one, and hours of manual cleaning on the other.

[creeking]

was she using an admin-level account for surfing?