Digital Compass

Brad Pitt has overtaken Paris Hilton as the most dangerous celebrity to search for in cyberspace according to Internet security company McAfee. Checking in the lifestyles of the rich and famous is not only a guilty pleasure, but could also be seriously dangerous for your PC. Fans searching for "Brad Pitt," "Brad Pitt downloads," or Brad Pitt wallpaper, screen savers or pictures have an 18 percent chance of having their PCs infected with online threats such as spyware, spam, phishing, adware, viruses and other malware.

Cyber criminals are the names and images of A-list celebrities including Beyonce and Justin Timberlake to gossip-seekers to fake websites which look legitimate. Actors Brad Pitt and Justin Timberlake are the most dangerous men to search for on the Internet, while Beyonce and Heidi Montag top the list for women. Interest in Justin Timberlake's high-profile relationships makes him an easy dummy for spammers and hackers. When searching for "Justin Timberlake downloads" one Web site advertising free music downloads offered only spam, spyware and adware. Inputting "Beyonce ringtones" into a search engine brings up risky Web sites that promote misleading offers to gather consumers' personal information. One of the simplest and most effective ways is to trick consumers into infecting themselves seems to be capitalizing on their interest in celebrity gossip, tapping into current events and pop culture.