Andy Murray is the most dangerous British Olympic athlete…in cyberspace

Computer Security, Sport, Tech Digest news
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Andy_Murray_gold.jpgAndy Murray has been named the most dangerous British Olympic athlete, but not perhaps for the reasons you’d first think. No, it’s not his speeding-bullet tennis serve, nor the thought of his (frankly terrifying) mum flying at you in a fit of rage. Rather, Andy Murray has been named the most dangerous British athlete in cyberspace.

Of all the most searched for British athletes on the web, search results returned for “Andy Murray” proved to hold the greatest risk for web users, according to web security firm McAfee.

Simple searches like “Andy Murray videos” or “Andy Murray downloads” returned more spyware, malware and computer security threats designed to steal personal information than any other British athlete.

Football star Ryan Giggs was found to be the second most dangerous British athlete in cyber space with gymnast Louis Smith (3), platform diver Tom Daley (4) and Mark Cavendish wrapping up the top 5.

“Cyber-crooks keep their finger on the pulse and adapt their scams to appeal to whatever we’re most likely to be searching for”, explained Raj Samani, CTO, McAfee EMEA.

“Andy Murray has seen regular press attention in his battle to become a serious contender in his sport, so it’s no surprise that the bad guys have taken advantage of his popularity to target consumers. To keep your valuable data and devices safe over this summer of sports, surf securely by ensuring the sites you visit have been verified as safe.”

It’ll certainly give something for Murray’s formidable rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal to mull over next time they’re researching the Scot’s tennis techniques online.

Gerald Lynch
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