Go Team USA! But is your favorite Olympic star dangerous?

How about those Olympics, huh??? I’m watching as much as I can – and I don’t even consider myself a huge sports buff. (Well, except for baseball. I love it!) There is just something so exciting about the international arena – the personal stories of triumph over adversity and the excitement of watching events when no one knows if someone will break a world record or have a coach give them bad advice that will lose them the gold medal. I still have goosebumps from the Canada vs. USA ice hockey game!

With social media being so popular it has transformed the how we watch the Olympics. I swear I saw Shaun White tweeting just before his event! And I am sure I am not the only one who “follows” the athletes to get updates on how they are feeling and what they are doing. It is seriously cool, right?

As the Olympics got underway, McAfee found that even the Olympics are not safe from having dangerous scams lurking in search results on the web. Skaters of all kinds seem to make up the majority of the top ten list – makes sense right? They have some of the most popular events.

It also makes sense with the global platform that is the Olympics that criminals would be doing everything in their power to try and cash in on such a big event. They create webpages that are full of popular search terms so they are bound to rank high on a search engine, begging for you to click on it because it looks like exactly the information for which you are looking.

Alas, if you click and your antivirus is not current, you are inviting those criminals right into your computer because they have put malicious software on the page that instantly starts downloading when you click on the link. I sure am glad that my computers all have SiteAdvisor technology that gives me the green light when a site is safe to visit.

Be careful when looking up these athletes on the “Interwebs”. Awesome as they may be, a search for them can do BAD things to your computer if you are not armed with the protection that comes with a comprehensive security suite.

1. Jennifer Rodriquez – (Speed Skating; U.S.A; Female) – This newsworthy Miami native came out of retirement to skate in her fourth Winter Olympics, making her a magnet for cybercriminals and malicious screen savers. Searching for her poses a one in four chance of being infected with a virus, spyware or adware.

2. Sayuri Osuga – (Long Track Speed skating; Japan; Female) – Sayuri’s packs a double punch of interest for participating in both the Summer and Winter Olympics. There is a 22% chance of contracting a virus when searching for downloads of her Olympic feats.

3. Alexander Smirnov – (Figure Skating; Russia; Male) – Alexander was ranked first in the 2009-2010 Russian Championship, and ranked as the most dangerous figure skater to search. He poses an 18% chance of downloading a malicious file when searched.

4. Peter Fill – (Alpine Skating; Italy; Male) – With Alpine Skiing as the most dangerous Olympic sport physically, it’s no wonder Peter lands in the top five most dangerous Olympians. He’s an easy target for hackers posing a 17% chance of visiting a red or yellow risky site.

5. Sasha Cohen – (Figure Skating; U.S. A.; Female) – Searching for America’s sweetheart figure skater will not do sweet things for your computer. If you search for Sasha Cohen downloads you have a 16% risk of being spammed later or contracting a virus.

6. Gillian Apps – (Ice hockey; Canada; Female) – When she’s not winning medals on the ice, this hockey star poses a 15% chance of giving you spyware or a malicious download.

7. Jack Johnson – (Ice hockey; U.S.A.; Male) – Jack is not only all over the globe walking in the Vancouver Opening Ceremony on Friday and playing in his LA King’s hockey game on Saturday, he’s also all over the Web. His continental spread makes him a more vulnerable internet search for curious ice hockey fans, with a 15% chance of risk.

8. Anni Friesinger – (Speed skating; Germany; Female) – This speed skating Olympian doubles as a model and bona fide sex symbol in Germany. When searching for her nickname, “Super Sexy Anni,” users have a 14% chance of finding infected links.

9. Angelina Jensen – (Curling; Denmark; Female) – Angelina is a world curling medalist, and also a world class threat. When users search for Angelina Jensen downloads and screensavers they have a 14% chance of uncovering a dangerous file.

10. Ben Agosto – (Figure skating; U.S.A.; Male) – As the reigning silver medalist in his sport, Ben is used to being a hot topic of interest. Cybercriminals know this too, and users have a near 14% chance of catching a virus when searching for him.

Tracy
@mcafeecybermom
cybermom@mcafee.com