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Summer blockbuster season is here, but check out this warning first before you click around the web looking for trailers of hot movies you want to see.
Read more: Hackers steal millions of LinkedIn passwords: Here’s what you need to do
Real Simple reports that there can be a lot of dangers with free movie downloads. Offers of sneak trailers or even of an entire film for download can hide viruses. (Trailers found directly at a film’s official website are generally safe.)
If you take the bait, the virus can load a keylogger onto your computer that captures every keystroke you type going forward. With your usernames and passwords in a criminal’s hands, they can then use your computer as a bot to spam others or take over your online accounts.
The same warning applies to any form of unknown audio or multimedia download, such as a leaked album from a dubious source. Treat it as a threat and know that you need to avoid the temptation to click.
But note this well: The threats aren’t only limited to the movie world!
DJ Armin van Buuren tops a list of the most dangerous celebrities in cyberspace, according to anti-virus software company McAfee.
For instance, searching ‘Armin van Buuren’ plus any of several terms like ‘free MP4,’ ‘HD downloads’ or ‘torrent’ means you have nearly a one in five chance (17.92%) of running into an infected link.
Rounding out the Top 10 list of dangerous celebrity searches we have:
| Celebrity | Percentage | |
| 1 | Armin van Buuren | 17.92% |
| 2 | Luke Bryan | 17.64% |
| 3 | Usher | 16.67% |
| 4 | Britney Spears | 16.39% |
| 5 | Jay Z | 15.83% |
| 6 | Katy Perry | 14.86% |
| 7 | Amy Schumer | 14.72% |
| 8 | Betty White | 14.03% |
| 9 | Lorde | 13.61% |
| 10 | Nina Dobrev | 13.19% |
You don’t have to pay big bucks to protect yourself online. These products all offer free downloads that will ward off viruses before you’re infected or remove a virus if your computer has one!
Avast Antivirus Home Edition – Free antivirus software with anti-spyware, anti-rootkit and more. For PC, Mac and home network protection.
AVG Antivirus for Mac – Offers real-time background protection and automatic virus database updates. Compatible with OS X Mountain Lion or later.—¹
AVG Antivirus Protection FREE – Antivirus software that automatically protects computers from viruses by providing timely virus database updates and protection. For PC, Mac and Android.
McAfree Site Advisor – Offers rating signals next to links in your search to let you know if they are safe or not to click. For PC.
Microsoft Security Essentials – Offers real-time protection that guards against viruses, spyware and other malicious software. For PC.
Malwarebytes – Identifies and removes malware and scareware from your computer. For PC.
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Mobile – Protects your phone or tablet from malware, infected apps and unauthorized surveillance. For Android.
Malware Anti-Malware for Mac – Removes adware and malware. For Mac.
SUPERantispyware – A free malware remover that also works on rootkits, spyware, adware, worms and parasites.
SpyBot – Search & Destroy – Detects and removes spyware of different kinds from your computer.
Read more: How to download your past Google searches
This post was last modified on January 9, 2018 2:00 pm
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