McAfee SiteAdvisor Blog

The 10 Most Dangerous Summer Movies to Search For

Steven Spielberg accidentally invented the "summer blockbuster" in 1975 when Jaws unexpectedly grossed over $100 million within the first month of its release. Since then, the major movie studios have increasingly relied on the summer season to release their biggest, and they hope, their most profitable films.

As consumers flock to the Web to learn more about this summer’s "event" movies, we decided to see if the scammers and spammers had followed. So, do any of this summer’s biggest names contain any hidden computer dangers? We searched Google for the titles of 37 summer ’06 blockbusters plus the word "screensaver" and calculated the percentage of risky site links returned on the first page of search results. We also performed similar screensaver searches for 48 of these films’ leading actors.

Sure enough, we found plenty to watch out for, including screensaver sites that lead to spyware, spam and other online nuisances. The right screensaver can let the fan savor his or her favorites all summer long. The wrong ones, well, let’s just say the movie may have come and gone, but the PC complications could last indefinitely. What follows are the 10 most dangerous summer blockbusters, and the 10 most dangerous blockbuster actors.

Danger lurks in Miami

Most Dangerous Summer Blockbuster: Miami Vice

It may be dangerous working as an undercover cop in Miami investigating murder and drug trafficking, but it’s also dangerous searching for a Miami Vice screensaver. 53% of first page Google search results are rated red or yellow by McAfee SiteAdvisor. First page search results include screensavers.com, which hosted risky downloads when we tested it, tv.org, which charged a customer service fee for free software, and desktopland.com, an aggregator of desktop downloads which linked to many red sites. Fans eagerly anticipating the July 28 movie release may want to exercise caution wallpapering their PCs with this 1980s revival.

Searching for screensavers of the film’s leading men Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell can also put adoring audiences at risk. Foxx and Farrell’s search results were 42% and 43% risky, respectively. Colin’s search included godesktop.com, where, in our tests, many downloads came bundled with Acoona Search Assistant and New dot Net. If you must get your fix of Foxx and Farrell, try their official fan sites here and here, both of which tested safe.

Careful what you click for

In the soon to be released movie Click, Adam Sandler receives a magical remote control that lets him manipulate life as if it were a recorded TV show. This remote would definitely come in handy when searching for a Click screensaver. Our search returned 50% risky sites, including galttech.com, where downloads might install 180Solutions, Zango, WhenU, Global Search Toolbar, or eZula. With such high odds of stumbling onto a risky Web site, the rewind button would certainly prove invaluable to users’ PCs.

What do a wrestler, a radio show and a secret agent have in common?

Seeing Jack Black sport a skin-tight wrestling costume in Nacho Libre may be a rather scary experience, but viewers have little to fear when searching for the film’s screensavers. Nacho Libre, along with A Prairie Home Companion and Mission: Impossible III, are among the safest summer blockbusters. Oddly enough, The Omen, which promises satanic horror, and DOA: Dead or Alive, which is full of violent fight scenes, are two other safe bets according to our May 2006 tests. And while Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston may threaten each other in The Break-Up, a search for the romantic comedy’s screensavers poses little threat to viewers’ PCs.

Most Dangerous Actor in A Summer Blockbuster: Uma Thurman

Starring in My Super Ex-Girlfriend, Uma Thurman takes the title for most dangerous actress in a summer blockbuster. 73% of her first page screensaver search results are rated red or yellow. In her up-coming movie, Uma plays a love-scorned superhero who uses her superpowers to make her ex-boyfriend’s life a living hell. Uma’s screensavers could have similar effects on fans’ PCs. When we searched for “Uma Thurman screensaver,” our search results included bad linker alwaysgirls.com, which directed us to an Uma Thurman screensaver from ezthemes.com. Take a look at the installation process:

Hmmm...was this screensaver worth it?

Other search results also included tierranet.com, which similarly linked to red download sites, and eforu.com, which breached browser security on our test PCs. Watch out boys- Uma’s dangerous.

Close behind are Hilary Duff (Material Girls) with 69% risky search results and Lindsay Lohan (A Prairie Home Companion) and Sandra Bullock (The Lake House), who tied for third at 64%. Apparently this season’s leading ladies pose a greater risk than the leading men: the first male to make our list, Kevin Spacey (Superman Returns), doesn’t come in until number seven.

Little to fear

Funnyman Shawn Wayans, starring in Little Man, wins the safest actor award: there were no dangerous search links in his screensaver search results. His character may be in danger when he mistakes a vertically-challenged criminal for his adopted son, but, luckily, his fans have little to worry about.

Danger is my middle name

So what makes one movie or actor more dangerous than another?

We could imagine that Uma Thurman and Sandra Bullock’s long and successful careers lend themselves to multiple avenues of attack. But relative newcomers like Lohan and Duff yield roughly similar numbers of unsafe sites. Likewise, Miami Vice might owe some number of its unsafe results to the long reach of the television series. Yet many of the other films in the top 10 are new material.

We do know that the bad guys follow what’s popular. We wonder if they can also predict what will be popular. We invite you to speculate as well. What makes a celebrity or movie ripe for exploitation? Looks, success, gender? Whatever the reason, one thing is certain: this is a real problem.

Viewer discretion advised?

This story is about more than a "top 10" list. It’s about how unscrupulous players profit when they convince movie lovers to make unsafe Web decisions. It would be easy to dismiss this issue with a simple admonition, "Don’t download a screensaver." But there are many safe alternatives to the sites mentioned here. In fact, there are plenty of good Web sites that allow people to safely express their fandom. Take a look at SiteAdvisor's category review of screensaver sites for some safe options. Like the sunscreen that allows a beachgoer to enjoy the day, SiteAdvisor’s safety ratings can guide you to safe Web site choices and help prevent your PC from getting burned.