Most dangerous superheroes to search for online

Though he has spent years fighting for good in comic books and on the big screen, Superman has emerged as one of the web’s biggest villains as he comes top in McAfee’s “Most Toxic Superman’ study.

The study analyzed which superhero searches led to the most risky websites, revealing that Thor, Wonder Woman and Aquaman, followed closely behind Superman in second and joint third place respectively.

The study used McAfee SiteAdvisor site ratings to see which superhero searches led to the most risky websites. It found that searching “Superman,” “Superman and free torrent download,” “Superman and watch,” “Superman and free app,” and “Superman and online,” yielded a 16.5% chance of landing on a website that tested positive for online threats, such as spyware, adware, spam, phishing, viruses and other malware.

The study indicates which sites are risky when searching for superhero names on the Web and calculate an overall risk percentage. The top 10 superheroes from this year’s study with the highest percentages of risk are:

“Whilst searching for your favourite superheroes online might seem innocent at the time” commented Raj Samani, CTO, McAfee EMEA, “we need to remember that cybercriminals take advantage of their popularity to target unsuspecting consumers seeking more information. These criminals want to lure us to unsafe sites that can severely infect computers and devices and even steal personal data.”

Tips to stay protected:

Be suspicious: If a search turns up a link to free content or too-good-to-be-true offers, be wary.

Double-check the web address: Look for misspellings or other clues that the site you are going to may not be safe.

Search safely: Use a web safety advisor that alerts you to potential risky sites before you click on them.

Protect yourself: Use comprehensive security software on all your devices to protect yourself against the latest threats.

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