Brad Pitt Tops Charts For Most Celebrity Malware Sites

Brad Pitt Tops Charts For Most Celebrity Malware Sites Hollywood actor Brad Pitt has bumped Paris Hilton off the top of the list as the most dangerous celebrity to search for on the Web, according to McAfee researchers.

Altogether, fans surfing the Web for “Brad Pitt,” “Brad Pitt downloads,” and Brad Pitt wallpaper for items like screen savers and images have an 18 percent chance of becoming infected with online security threats such as spyware, spam, phishing, adware and viruses.

 

McAfee researchers found that when a search was conducted for “Brad Pitt screensavers,” more than half the resulting Websites were identified as malicious, containing spyware, adware and viruses.

 

“Brad Pitt” Web pages were followed by those of singer Justin Timberlake for riskiest male celebrity search subject on the Internet. Some eager fans who searched for “Justin Timberlake downloads” were taken to one Website that advertised free music downloads which McAfee flagged as leading to spam, spyware and adware sites.

 

Meanwhile, Beyonce and Heidi Montag topped the list for most dangerous female celebrity. Visitors entering Beyonce ringtones into a search engine often are directed to risky Web sites that promote fake offers to gather users’ personal data. A search for “The Hills” star Heidi Montag elicits numerous Web sites offering wallpaper downloads infused with malware.

 

In order to reel in Web traffic, cyber attackers often create Web pages featuring A-list movie actors or rock stars, such as Beyonce and Justin Timberlake. News or videos of celebrities often entice unsuspecting victims to click on malicious links or open pages infused with malicious code in search of the latest celebrity gossip, screen saver or ring tone, researchers say.

 

“Cybercriminals employ numerous methods, yet one of the simplest but most effective ways is to trick consumers into infecting themselves by capitalizing on Americans’ interest in celebrity gossip,” said Jeff Green, senior vice president of McAfee’s product development and Avert Labs in a written statement. “Tapping into current events, pop culture or commonly browsed sites is an easy way to achieve this. And because of Americans’ obsession with following celebrities’ lifestyles, they are an obvious target.”

 

Among McAfee’s top list of celebrities exploited by malware authors include Mariah Carey, Jessica Alba, Lindsay Lohan, Cameron Diaz, George Clooney, Angelina Jolie, Fergie, David Beckham, Katie Holmes, and Katherine Heigl.

 

Malicious sites with Brad Pitt replaced those featuring Hollywood socialite Paris Hilton, who headed McAfee’s 2007 list of most dangerous celebrities. Neither Hilton nor pop singer Britney Spears — ranked fourth last year — made the 2008 most risky celebrity to search for on the Web.

 

Malware generally encompasses any malicious code, including viruses, worms, spyware and Trojans, which are often silently installed on users’ PCs unbeknownst to them. Reasons for planting malware with celebrity lures range from promoting a spam product to more insidious objectives such as stealing passwords or financial and personally identifying information.

The findings were based on research provided by McAfee’s SiteAdvisor technology to reveal Hollywood celebrity names that produce the largest number of malicious Websites.

U.S. did not warn of impending missile strike, Pakistan says

U.S. failed to warn Pakistanis before strike

Pakistan said Thursday that it had not been warned about a missile strike, thought to have been carried out by the United States, that came hours after a top U.S. official assured Pakistani leaders that the United States respected Pakistani sovereignty.

The missile strike, which reportedly hit the northwest Pakistani region of South Waziristan on Wednesday, is likely to fuel anger over an increase in cross-border operations by U.S. forces.

The operations, which include a ground assault on Sept. 3, have strained the seven-year anti-terror alliance between the two countries.

While denying having received prior knowledge of the strike Wednesday, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi indicated that the civilian leadership of Pakistan wanted to defuse tensions via diplomatic means.

The strike came the same day the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, was in Pakistan to meet with the prime minister, the army chief and other officials.

The U.S. Embassy said Mullen had “reiterated the U.S. commitment to respect Pakistan’s sovereignty and to develop further U.S.-Pakistani cooperation and coordination on these critical issues that challenge the security and well-being of the people of both countries.”

Qureshi, who was among those who met with Mullen, said that Pakistani officials “were not informed” of the strike that took place that same day. Asked about Mullen’s statement, Qureshi said, “it’s a clear, clear commitment to Pakistan to respect Pakistan’s sovereignty.”

Qureshi said he suspected that any split between professed goals and practice on the ground, should one exist, would have been the result of a lack of communication. “If, having said that, there was an attack later in the night, that means there is some sort of an institutional disconnect on their side, and if so, they will have to sort it out,” he said.

Two intelligence officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said the missile strike had targeted a compound used by Taliban militants and Hezb-i-Islami, another group involved in escalating attacks in Afghanistan.

One of the officials said that a drone aircraft of the type used by the CIA and by U.S. forces in Afghanistan was heard in the area, and both said they had been told by informants that six people had died in the attack and that three others were wounded.

Gonzalo Gallegos, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department, declined to comment Thursday, as is customary in the case of allegations of U.S. missile strikes in the area.

Washington has long been concerned about the use by the Taliban and Al Qaeda of Pakistan’s tribal regions as bases from which to plan attacks on U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. A spate of alleged missile strikes, as well as the ground assault, signal U.S. impatience with Pakistani efforts to clear the area of militants.

Pakistan insists that it is doing all it can and that unilateral attacks will simply deepen tribal sympathy for militants.

This month, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, head of the Pakistani Army, issued a strong public rebuke of the United States, saying Pakistan’s territorial integrity would “be defended at all cost” and denying that there was any agreement for U.S. forces to operate there.

The army also has said that Pakistani troops have orders to fire on intruding forces after the Sept. 3 attack.