Dhanush has been declared as the most sensational celebrity of 2014 from Kollywood in a recent survey conducted by an online security technology firm, McAfee.
McAfee carried out a research on Tamil cinema's most popular faces to find out the riskiest celebrity (number of infected websites) in cyberspace. Dhanush emerged on top as the most sensational celebrity with more than 66 infected websites to his name.
Cyber criminals embed sites on celebrities with malware. When fans try to access these infected websites to get updates on the celebrities, it allows the criminals to steal passwords and personal information of the users.
Consumers searching for celebrity names along with other terms including wallpaper, hot pictures, videos, internet memes and selfies have led to instances of malware-laden sites, according to a press release from the company.
"By including the names of popular celebrities in a website's search tags, consumers are completely unaware of the security risks that exist which can severely infect their computers, devices and steal personal data," Venkat Krishnapur, vice president of the website, was quoted as saying by The Times of India.
"Cyber criminals are consistently looking for ways to take advantage of consumer interest around new movies, TV shows, as well as the latest celebrity-driven trends. For e.g. the selfie craze, the ice bucket challenge videos or internet memes created for sheer fun," he said.
The promos of Dhanush's upcoming Hindi film "Shamitabh," co-starring Amitabh Bachchan, has over 66 infected search results on the net. This has put the national-award winner on the top of the list of Kollywood celebrities with highest percentage of risk online, reported the daily.
The actor has taken over Trisha who took the top slot in the survey conducted last year. The "Thala 55" actress has moved to the fourth spot along with Suriya who have 57 infected sites online.
Arya takes the second spot with 59 malicious websites, while Nayanthara comes third with 58 infected websites. Superstar Rajinikanth is in the fifth spot, followed by Vijay and Shriya Sharan sharing the sixth place.