According to the latest research report from security vendor McAfee, Superman is the biggest malware magnet when it comes to online superhero searches. Other dangerous caped crusaders include Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Thor. Read on to see how each superhero ranked.
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The latest Superman movie was notable for its somewhat homicidal depiction of the man of steel, which makes this news report somewhat fitting. If McAfee is to be believed, there has been a sharp increase in Superman-linked spyware, adware, spam, phishing and viruses as cyber criminals look to dupe consumers through this popular gateway.
Not surprisingly, a lot of the malware comes from bogus links to superhero movies on dodgy torrent sites. McAfee’s internal study found that online searches for “Superman”, “Superman and free torrent download”, “Superman and watch”, “Superman and free app”, and “Superman and online” offered the biggest risk to consumers.
Below is a list of the riskiest comic characters as determined by McAfee SiteAdvisor’s site ratings, which relate to the likelihood of landing on a website that has tested positive for online threats.
- Superman
- Thor
- Wonder Woman + Aquaman (tie)
- Wolverine
- Spiderman
- Batman
- Black Widow
- Captain America
- Green Lantern
- Ghost Rider
Aquaman is third? What’s that all about? We’re also surprised by the lack of Guardians of the Galaxy heroes or Howard the Duck on this list. Either online crooks don’t know what superhero fanboys are searching for, or McAfee’s marketing team doesn’t.
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