McAfee reveals Riteish Deshmukh as Most Sensational Celebrity in Marathi Cinema

McAfee reveals Riteish Deshmukh as Most Sensational Celebrity in Marathi Cinema

McAfee’s annual study finds searching for popular celebrities online can lead to identity theft.

India – October 6, 2014 – For the second year in a row, McAfee’s Most Sensational Celebrity Survey has found Marathi cinema’s Riteish Deshmukh topping the charts in cyberspace. As part of the program, McAfee researched Marathi popular culture’s most famous people to reveal the riskiest Marathi celebrity across the web and unveil the 2014 rendition of its ‘Most Sensational Celebrity’ research.  Riteish Deshmukh trumps the duo Ajay Atul, who topped the list in 2013.

As cybercriminals exploit consumers’ need to be updated on celebrity news, McAfee’s survey highlights the pitfalls of the trend. These criminals capitalize on the public’s fascination to lure them to sites loaded with malware, which in turn allows them to steal passwords and personal information. This year, searching for a ‘celebrity name’ coupled with search terms like ‘wallpaper’, ‘videos’, ‘free download’, ‘hot pictures’, ‘selfie’ and ‘internet memes’ have resulted in instances of malware-laden sites.

Commenting on the findings of the study, Venkat Krishnapur, Vice-President of Engineering- Consumer, Business Group, McAfee India Centre, McAfee, Part of Intel Security said, “By including the names of popular celebrities in a website's search tags, consumers are completely unaware of the security risks that exist which can severely infect their computers, devices and steal personal data. Cybercriminals are consistently looking for ways to take advantage of consumer interest around new movies, TV shows, as well as the latest celebrity-driven trends. For e.g. the selfie craze, the ice bucket challenge videos or internet memes created for sheer fun.”

The top 10 Marathi celebrities from this year’s study with the highest percentages of risk in Indian cyberspace are:

Rank	Celebrity
1	Riteish Deshmukh, who has had a successful run at the box office this year with his debut in Marathi cinema’s highest grossing film “Lai Bhaari”ranks 1st as Most Sensational Celebrity with 65 infected search results.
2	Youngster Ketaki Mategaonkar who has enthralled the audiences with the super hit movie ‘TP – Timespass’, ranks 2nd with 58 malicious websites.
3	At 3rd position is the lover boy of Marathi cinema, Swwapnil Joshi who has announced his digital platform initiative Swwapnil TV, created for his fans to be updated on Marathi cinema. He has 56 malware infected sites to his name.
4	The national award winning music director-composer duo Ajay Atul, who have introduced the rebirth of the Dhol and Tasha in music, stand 4th in the list with 54 infected sites online.
5	Ranking 5th on the list, with 49 malicious sites is Sai Tamhankar who redefined the concept of boldness in Marathi cinema; she will be seen in Anurag Basu’s next film, ‘Hunter’.
6	At 7th position is Marathi cinema’s top hero Ankush Chaudhari, who will play a negative avatar in the movie ‘Por Bazaar’, with 47 infected websites.
7	With 46 infected sites to her name, Mrinal Kulkarni, Marathi cinema’s veteran actress who plays lead role in the movie ‘A Rainy Day’, ranks 7thin the list.
8	Known for her lavani dance from the movie ‘Natarang’,   Sonalee Kulkarniranks 8th with 45 malware-ridden websites.
9	With 43 infected sites to his name, Makrand Anaspure, Marathi cinema’s best known comedian ranks 9th in the list.
10	Marathi cinema’s leading actress Urmila Kanetkar-Kothare, who will dance to a lavani in the film 'Tapaal', ranks 10th with 41 malware-ridden websites.

Let's take a SELFIE

Marathi celebs too have jumped on the selfie bandwagon. Riteish Deshmukh, Ajay Atul, Ketaki Mategaonkar, in the stated order have the most infected sites with the search term ‘selfie’.

Just for laughs, meme style

Amongst Marathi celebrities, Sai Tamhankar (No. 5) is the most used character for internet memes.

From one year to another

Vaishali Samant, Mukta Barve, Atul Kulkarni, Bharat Jadhav , Amruta Khanvilkar & Shreyas Talpade have all dropped out of this year’s list (in 2013 they ranked No. 2, No. 4, No. 5, No. 7, No. 8,  and No. 9 respectively).

How You Can Stay Protected:

·         Beware of clicking on third party links. You should access content directly from official websites of content providers. For example, visit ABC.com to find Jimmy Kimmel’s latest episodes.

·         Ensure you use web protection that will notify you of risky sites or links before you visit them. Stick to official news sites for breaking news.

• Don’t download videos from suspect sites. This should be common sense, but it bears repeating: don’t download anything from a website you don’t trust — especially video. Most news clips you’d want to see can easily be found on official video sites and don’t require you to download anything.

·         “Free downloads” are by far the highest virus-prone search term. Anyone searching for videos or files to download should be careful as not to unleash unsafe content such as malware onto their computers.

• Always use password protection on your phone and other mobile devices. If you don’t and your phone is lost or stolen, anyone who picks up the device could have access to your personal information online.

• Don’t “log in” or provide other information: If you receive a message, text or email or visit a third-party website that asks for your information—credit card, email, home address, Facebook login, or other information—to grant access to an exclusive story, don’t give it out. Such requests are a common tactic for phishing that could lead to identity theft.

• Search online using a tool, such as SiteAdvisor software, which protects users from malicious websites and browser exploits. A complimentary version of SiteAdvisor software can be downloaded at www.siteadvisor.com.

·         Web surfers can also visit the McAfee Facebook page at www.facebook.com/mcafee and McAfee Security Advice Center for information on the latest consumer threats, and tips for living safe online.

·         If you do decide to search for information on a major event or celebrity in the news, make sure your entire household’s devices have protection, such as McAfee LiveSafe™ service, which protects all devices from your PCs, Macs, and tablets to your smartphone. It also includes malware detection software, McAfee® Mobile Security, to protect your smartphone or tablet from all types of malware.

Survey Methodology

The study was conducted using McAfee® SiteAdvisor® site ratings to determine which sites are risky to search when attached to celebrity names on the Web and calculates an overall risk percentage. McAfee SiteAdvisor technology protects users from malicious websites and browser exploits. SiteAdvisor technology tests and rates nearly every Internet website it finds, and uses red, yellow and green icons to indicate the website’s risk level. Ratings are created by using patented advanced technology to conduct automated website tests and works with Internet Explorer, Chrome, Safari and Firefox.

The terms “Riteish Deshmukh wallpaper,” “Riteish Deshmukh videos,”  “Riteish Deshmukh free downloads,” “Riteish Deshmukh hot pictures,” “Riteish Deshmukh selfie,” and “Riteish Deshmukh internet memes” were used to search for Alia Bhatt, and replicated for each celebrity on the list. The results indicated the percentage of risk of running into online threats designed to steal personal information. Fans clicking on these risky sites and downloading files including photos and videos become more vulnerable to downloading viruses and malware.

About McAfee

McAfee is now part of Intel Security. With its Security Connected strategy, innovative approach to hardware-enhanced security, and unique Global Threat Intelligence, Intel Security is intensely focused on developing proactive, proven security solutions and services that protect systems, networks, and mobile devices for business and personal use around the world. Intel Security combines the experience and expertise of McAfee with the innovation and proven performance of Intel to make security an essential ingredient in every architecture and on every computing platform. Intel Security’s mission is to give everyone the confidence to live and work safely and securely in the digital world.www.intelsecurity.com.

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