As part of a frankly genius annual PR move, security firm McAfee has named Emma Watson the "most dangerous cyber celebrity", based on the number of sites that serve up malware and viruses to unsuspecting web users who search for her.

But reading between the lines leads to a more amusing, and less grandiose, conclusion: perverts are still the most targeted online individuals. Regular web users needn't worry so much.

According to McAfee, searching for "Emma Watson" along with "nude pictures" or "fakes" is the best way to be lured onto malware-ridden celebrity websites. The same is true for Shakira, Megan Fox and Selena Gomez. "In today's celebrity culture, consumers expect to be able to go online to catch up with the latest photos, videos, tweets, and stories about their favourite celebrities," explains Gary Davis, a VP of global consumer marketing at McAfee. "Due to the richness of the data and the high interaction, often times consumers forget the risks that they are taking by clicking on the links."


It seems unusual, and indeed a little far-reaching, to talk about horny individuals searching for faked nude photos in the same context as average consumers looking for celebrity news. So we performed an anecdotal survey of our own, and a typical search for

"emma watson news" seemed no more immediately dangerous than any other celebrity name. Searching "emma watson sex tape" on the other hand (pardon the expression), certainly brings more worrisome links to the foreground.

Realistically, the larger story behind this study is that searches for faked pictures of nude girls remains a risky online activity -- Emma Watson is just flavour of the month. In fact, the top ten results were exclusively female -- mostly models, pop singers and actresses. Only one male, Jimmy Kimmel, appears in the top 20 according to McAfee, and it's safe to assume -- and indeed hope -- his name was seldom coupled with the "nude pictures" suffix.

McAfee annually releases this list of "dangerous" celebrities, and it's a great way to garner media attention for a supposed problem and attract worried readers towards a branded solution. But the real fact of the matter here is that hunting for fake nudes remains a risky business, so it's best to stick to only officially-licensed nudity to avoid falling groin-first into the malware-ridden pervert pit.