Web's 10 "Most Dangerous" Olympic Athletes
The record-breaking times, jaw-dropping performances and agile athletes of the Vancouver Olympic Games may capture viewers' attention, but searching for the Olympic superstars online may be harmful for your computer.
According to Internet security company McAfee, figure skaters are the riskiest Olympic athletes to search for, in terms of your computer possibly getting infected with a computer virus, spyware or other malicious software. Three of the sport's stars made McAfee's list of 10 "most dangerous" Winter Olympians to search for.
"The Olympics presents the perfect opportunity for cybercriminals who know people around the world will be searching for stats and images of their favorite athletes," Shane Keats, research analyst at McAfee, said in a statement. "With billions of people cheering on their countries' Olympians via the Internet, hackers and other criminals attempt to penetrate their computer systems with spyware, viruses, spam and other dangerous software disguised under famous athletes."
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Female athletes are more dangerous to search for than male athletes, according to McAfee's findings. Also, Americans are more "risky" than the other countries on the list, including Japan, Russia, Italy and Germany.
Here are the athletes that topped their "most dangerous" list.
1. American women's speed skater Jennifer Rodriguez. According to McAfee, searching for her poses a one in four chance of being infected with malicious software.
2. Japanese women's speed skater Sayuri Osuga participates in both the Summer and Winter Olympic games, and poses a 22 percent chance of contracting a virus when searching for her accomplishments.
3. Russian men's figure skater Alexander Smirnov. According to McAfee, Smirnov is the most dangerous figure skater to search for. Searching for him risks an 18 percent chance of downloading malicious files.
4. Searching for Italian men's alpine skier Peter Fill poses a 17 percent chance of visiting risky Web sites.
5. American women's figure skater Sasha Cohen didn't make the 2010 U.S. Olympic team, but searching for her is still dangerous. According to McAfee, if you search for Sasha Cohen downloads you have a 16 percent risk of being spammed later or contracting a virus.
6. Canadian women's ice hockey player Gillian Apps poses a 15 percent chance of giving you spyware or a malicious download, according to the findings.
7. American men's hockey player Jack Johnson - who plays for the Los Angeles Kings when he's not on Team USA - poses a 15 percent chance of causing curious hockey fans to come across dangerous content.
8. German women's speed skater Anni Friesinger is also a model and sex symbol in her home country, according to McAfee, and searching for her nickname, "Super Sexy Anni," poses a 14 percent chance of finding infected links.
9. When searching for downloads or screensavers of Angelina Jensen, a member of Denmark's women's curling team, computer users have a 14 percent chance of finding a dangerous file.
10. American men's figure skater Ben Agosto, according to McAfee, gives users a near 14 percent chance of catching a virus when searching for him.