Singer is ‘riskiest’ celebrity to search for online in UK

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September 19, 2017 3:25 PM

The McAfee study seeks to highlight the risks of clicking on suspicious links when searching for new music of top UK artists online.

Craig David has been branded the "most dangerous" celebrity to search online in the UK.

Craig David’s name when Google searched generates the most risk for malware infiltration according to computer security company McAfee.

According to computer security company McAfee, a browse for the ‘’Born To Do It” singer is more likely to lead fans to malicious sites than any other name.

It's believed cybercriminals create links at top of popular searches to send users to pages that can install malware or steal personal information.

Emeli Sande is the second 'riskiest' while Liam Payne completes the top three of 'most dangerous' UK celebrity searches.

The McAfee study seeks to highlight the risks of clicking on suspicious links when searching for new music online.

"Having the latest albums, videos and films available immediately is a tempting proposition," said Nick Viney, a consumer expert at McAfee.

"However, consumers need to be aware of the cybersecurity risks of clicking on links that promise the latest content from celebrities, particularly when they're offering it for free.

"They [the consumers] need to slow down and assess the links and sources that are showing up in search results."

The study looked at how likely it was that searches for celebrity names followed by terms like "free mp3" would take the user to a "risky" website.

More than one in 10 search results claiming to offer free content from Craig David across Google, Bing and Yahoo! lead to malicious websites.

Adele, Ed Sheeran, Jessie J, Rita Ora, Liam Payne, Charli XCX, Lily Allen and Zayn Malik are also in the top 10 names to be wary of when searching for celebrity content.

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