There are a whole bunch of dangerous things you can do on the internet, but for obvious reasons we’re not about to give you a how-to guide of them. However, even searching for your favourite celebrity online can throw up some dangerous links.
According to web providers McAfee, who just did a study into the celebrities whose names throw up the most bits of spyware, viruses, spam, phishing, adware and other malware, Cheryl Cole is the most dangerous celeb of them all. Fifteen per cent of the links resulting from a search of the words ‘Cheryl Cole’ involve dodgy content that could harm your computer.
She’s just ahead of Daniel Radcliffe, and Jessie J at three plus all of One Direction, with Harry Styles taking his place as the eighth most dangerous celebrity to search for.
Just FYI, though there might be a lot of spam thrown up by the likes of Justin Bieber, in that a lot of what he says is absolute rubbish, the researchers were looking for actual nasties that can muck up your computer.
READ MORE: Cheryl Cole Talks About Her Ex-Marriage, Keeps It Classy
Why was Cheryl Cole up top? We’re not 100% sure; but it looks like she’s still the most famous woman we’re looking for, or at least what the hackers think they can lure us in with.
Samantha Humphries-Smith, a McAfee Labs product manager, told The Independent: ‘The desire for consumers to have access to the latest celebrity information can often make them vulnerable to cybercrime.
‘Most consumers do not realise the security risks they are exposing themselves to when searching for celebrity videos and images online. But cybercriminals can exploit this desire for breaking celebrity news, leading consumers to sites that download harmful malware on to their devices and compromise personal data.’
READ MORE: Cheryl Cole Announces Marriage To Boyfriend Of Three Months
The plus side is, if you’re looking for the woman formerly known as Cheryl Cole but using her newly-married name, Cheryl Fernandez-Versini then you won’t get all that dodgy adware. So, whether you think it’s feminist or not for her to change her name, at least we now know that Google thinks it’s the safer option.
Meanwhile, a load of people are getting riled up about the photos she’s done to promote her new single, I Don’t Care. As well as a cheerful shot of her grinning with a hand in her glossy hair, there’s also a shot of her with her legs wide open. On all forms of social media people are voicing their distaste at Cheryl, one complaining that she’s lost her status as a role model – for doing what looks like a dance move.
Given that this many people are willing to talk about her on the internet for waving her crotch around in a picture, then it stands to reason that a lot of people are going to keep on Googling her. It also then follows that a few exploitative sorts will continue to use her name to tag onto whatever sort of nasties they want to inflict your computer with. Your best bet? Learn how to spell ‘Versini’.
Like this? You might also be interested in:
Apples Get You Wet. And Other Weird Sex Advice From The Internet
Lorde Wants You All To Be Using The Internet To Do Your Own PR
** Follow Sophie on Twitter @sophwilkinson**
Picture: Getty
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.