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Upala KBR (DNA; October 10, 2014)

It’s something so commonplace. You search for pictures of your favourite celebrities and are promptly directed to sites that host malicious software designed to disrupt your device and allow cyber criminals to steal your passwords and personal information.

This year, McAfee, a part of Intel Security, has found that simply searching for a celebrity’s name, coupled with other keywords like ‘wallpaper’, ‘videos’, ‘free download’, ‘hot pictures’, ‘selfie’ and ‘internet memes’ will get you to malware-laden sites.

Their survey highlights the pitfalls of the trend (and also proves the current popularity of the celeb). It also throws light on the following aspects: The 10 Most Sensational Celebrities, the infected search results for each celebrity, methodology of the survey and tips to protect yourself online and browse safely.

‘Genius of the year’
Alia Bhatt tops as McAfee’s Most Sensational Celebrity (earlier called Most Dangerous Celebrity), followed by Aamir Khan (who debuts in the list with PK’s poster) and Priyanka Chopra (for her performance in Mary Kom).