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Journalism of Courage
McAfee, one of the most popular cybersecurity firms in the world recently unveiled its “Celebrity Hacker Hot List 2024”, which focuses on Indian celebrities that attract the most cyber threats.
The annual study, conducted by “threat intelligence researchers”, lists the top 10 celebrities whose names are being used by threat actors to create malicious websites and scams that try to either steal personal information or dupe people of their money.
Orhan Awatramani, also known as Orry, is on the top of the list followed by the Punjabi singer Diljit Dosanjh and Alia Bhatt. The report suggests that Orry is being targeted because of his associations with other celebrities. On the other hand, scammers are luring unsuspecting victims by creating fake ticket sites and selling tickets illegally at a discounted rate for Diljit Dosanjh’s upcoming Dil-Luminati concert tour.
McAfee’s new report also sheds light on how cybercriminals are using AI generated content to spread misinformation involving celebrities like Alia Bhatt, whose deepfakes have been used to spread misinformation.
Actors like Ranveer Singh and Aamir Khan have also been falsely associated with political parties while personalities like Virat Kohli and Shah Rukh Khan are used to promote betting apps. Other celebrities who made it to India’s McAfee Hacker Celebrity Hot List include Sachin Tendulkar, Deepika Padukone and Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
According to McAfee’s recent survey, almost 80 per cent of Indians say they are concerned about deep fakes compared to a year ago while a whopping 64 per cent say AI is making it harder to spot scams.
To stay ahead of such scams, make sure you open links only from reliable sources, try not to download suspicious files or stream from unknown websites. Also, refrain from offering information like social media username and passwords or entering credit card details on shady websites.
