Heidi Klum: Named 'most dangerous celebrity in cyberspace' by top antivirus firm

Heidi Klum: Named 'most dangerous celebrity in cyberspace' by top antivirus firm

The Victoria's Secret model Heidi Klum has been named as the 'most dangerous celebrity' in cyberspace by a leading antivirus firm.

Heidi replaced Cameron Diaz at the top of McAfee's list of showbiz stars most likely to yield malicious websites on an internet search engine.

The antivirus firm concluded that a web search for Klum has a one-in-ten chance of bringing up sites carrying spyware, adware, spam, phishing software and viruses. Adding terms like 'video' and 'screensaver' to the search increases the potential threat.

Cameron Diaz dropped into second place, while Piers Morgan came in third. Other celebrities in the top ten include Jessica Biel, Brad Pitt and Scarlett Johansson.

According to the company, movie stars and models are among the most dangerous internet searches, while singers and sports stars are considered the safest.

"While slightly safer than last year, searching for top celebrities continues to generate risky results," said Paula Greve, director of web security research at McAfee.

"Consumers should be particularly aware of malicious content hiding in 'tiny' places like shortened URLs that can spread virally in social networking sites, or through e-mails and text messages from friends."

He added: "Hot movies and TV shows, awards and industry accolades seem to be more of a factor than headline-grabbing activity. Still, searching for any celebrity can bring up risky sites and the public should use caution by not clicking on any page that looks suspicious."

Calculated by its SiteAdvisor service, McAfee's list was compiled based on risk percentages.