When searching for these Vegas visitors, beware of viruses

By Cara McCoy

Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009 | 2:15 p.m.

A quick Google search of stars who frequent Las Vegas nightclubs will yield any variety of photos, gossip and, according to a recent report, the potential for catching a nasty virus. A computer virus, that is.

Internet security company McAfee Inc. researched Hollywood stars and pop culture’s famous people in an effort to track the riskiest to search for online. Las Vegas regulars Lindsay Lohan and Kim Kardashian are two of 15 celebrities the security company has identified as risky to search for. Criminals often use celebrities’ names and images to lure Internet users to download malware, the company said.

McAfee compiled the list using its SiteAdvisor technology to assess the celebrity names that produce the largest number of risky sites and overall risk percentage.

Coming in at No. 1 was Jessica Biel. She’s well known for being an actress, but also gets buzz from being Justin Timberlake’s girlfriend.

"Fans searching for ‘Jessica Biel’ or ‘Jessica Biel downloads,’ ‘Jessica Biel wallpaper,’ ‘Jessica Biel screen savers,’ ‘Jessica Biel photos’ and ‘Jessica Biel videos’ have a one in five chance of landing at a Web site that’s tested positive for online threats, such as spyware, adware, spam, phishing, viruses and other malware,” McAfee said.

Biel and Timberlake were spotted around town last year during the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open golf tournament. This year’s event is scheduled for Oct. 12 to 18 at TPC Summerlin.

Coming in at No. 2 is Beyoncé, who recently reigned over the Wynn with two sellout performances in the 1,500-seat Encore theater earlier this month. McAfee said searching for “Beyoncé ringtones” turned up a link to a dangerous Web site with links to adware and spyware.

Also in the top five are Jennifer Aniston, Tom Brady and Jessica Simpson. Brady’s wife, supermodel Gisele Bundchen, came in at No. 6.

Frequent Strip nightclub visitors Lohan and Kardashian round out the bottom of the list, at No. 14 and 15 respectively.

About Lohan, McAfee said it had flagged screensaver sites that offered more than 50 downloads infected with Trojans, viruses or spyware. It said searches for Kardashian yielded numerous downloads “veiled with malware.”

It’s the third year in a row McAfee has compiled the list.

“Cybercriminals are star watchers too – they latch onto popular celebrities to encourage the download of malicious software in disguise,” Jeff Green, senior vice president of McAfee Avert Labs, said in a statement. “Consumers’ obsession with celebrity news and culture is harmless in theory, but one bad download can cause a lot of damage to a computer.”