A State of Chance? Armin van Buuren named the Most Dangerous Cyber Celebrity of 2015

When you think of Armin van Buuren, you probably associate him with being one of the world’s greatest DJ’s, and one of the foremost purveyors of trance music. You probably wouldn’t link him to being the most dangerous pop culture related search on the web. According to Intel Security’s annual research on which famous pop culture icons lead to dangerous search results, Armin topped the list, after finishing in second place in 2014.

A State of Trance? More like, A State of Chance… precisely a 17.92% chance that an Armin related search will lead you to website that has tested positive for online threats, such as spyware, adware, spam, phishing, viruses and other malware.  Armin narrowly edged out country singer Luke Bryan and Usher for the top nod. Sure this distinction will make him proud. The Dutchman has become the first DJ to earn the top spot, and the third male, next to Brad Pitt and Jimmy Kimmel.

Seven of the top ten names were musicians, representing  EDM, country, hip hop and pop genres. Jay-Z, Britney Spears, Katy Perry and Lorde round out the rest of the potentially savage searches.

In today’s age of digital music consumption and piracy, it’s become way to easy to find free music. But be careful what you wish for, as this study revealed that you have a 1 in 5 shot of landing on a malicious site  when you search for Armin contains keywords like “free MP4,” “HD downloads,” or “torrent.”