Luke Bryan Tops Dubious List of Celebrity Malware Names

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Well here’s yet another reason to avoid Luke Bryan’s music at all costs. In the annual cyber security study conducted by Intel to determine the celerity names most commonly linked to sites with malware and other malicious activity, Luke Bryan came in 2nd on the list. Searching “Luke Bryan,” especially in combination with terms such as “free MP4,” “HD downloads,” or “torrent,” yields search results to sites with a 17.64% chance of including malware or other suspicious activity according to the study. The #1 celebrity in the study was EDM DJ Armin van Buuren.

“Cybercriminals are always looking for ways to take advantage of consumer interest around popular culture events including award shows, TV show and movies premieres, album releases, celebrity breakups, and more,” says the study. “They capitalize on this interest by enticing unsuspecting consumers to sites laden with malware, which enables them to steal passwords and personal information.”

Luke Bryan’s current popularity at the moment makes him a prime candidate for malware makers. Music artists are especially enticing for hackers looking to infect users with malware because of their popularity, and the potential for searchers to be willing to download information from sites. Seven of the top 10 celebrities on the list are musical artists. The only other country artist mentioned in the study was Kenny Chesney at #13.

celebrity-malware“With today’s busy culture and a desire for real time information, consumers often click on sites that will quickly provide them with news and entertainment, without considering safety and security implications,” said Stacey Conner, online safety expert at Intel Security. “Cybercriminals leverage this need for immediacy by encouraging people to visit unsafe sites that can steal private data … When consumers search for music that is not made available through legitimate channels, they put both their digital lives and devices at risk.”

What’s interesting about the study is that the most popular music stars don’t always equate to the most popular malware carriers. Taylor Swift—arguably the most popular music performer in the world at the moment—isn’t on the list at all. Miley Cyrus doesn’t come in until #19.

Though the study did not conclude specifically why Luke Bryan’s name was used so often to attract web users to malware sites, Saving Country Music will go ahead and assert its opinion that many Luke Bryan fans are numbskull morons who are more likely to fall for an online scam and unsuspectingly download malware. The fact that he also recently released an album may also have something to do with it.

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