As Brits spend more time at home and streaming entertainment amid orders to stay in, McAfee conducted research to identify which popular movies and TV shows available on-demand today pose the highest risk to individuals when being searched for online –especially when they’re on the hunt for “free” content to watch. Given the blurring of boundaries between the office and the home, cyber threats hidden with unofficial or pirate websites now pose a potential risk to the enterprise – with smaller business often relying on staff working on their own personal devices or bigger businesses finding employees using their work devices at home for non-work activity.
McAfee’s analysis of more than 100 of the UK’s most talked about entertainment titles has identified a “Top 10 Web Risk List” for television and film. Ranked in order of web search risk (from highest to lowest) as identified by McAfee’s Web Advisor platform, Homeland and Swingers took the top spot in their respective categories.
| Top 10 Most Targeted TV Shows – UK | Top 10 Most Targeted Movies – UK |
| 1. Homeland | 1. Swingers |
| 2. Brooklyn Nine-Nine | 2. Step Brothers |
| 3. Criminal | 3. Black Panther |
| 4. Jane the Virgin | 4. Lost Girls |
| 5. Elite | 5. Zombieland |
| 6. Doctor Who | 6. Lion |
| 7. Altered Carbon | 7. Aeronauts |
| 8. Good Girls | 8. Kingsman: The Secret Service |
| 9. Big Mouth | 9. Uncut Gems |
| 10. Merlin | 10. IT |
With consumers looking to stay entertained while they’re encouraged to stay at home during lockdown, online activity is on the rise and so is cybercrime. It’s no secret that online criminals attempt to use the allure of popular TV shows and movies to trick unsuspecting consumers into visiting malicious websites that can be used to install malware or steal personal or financial information and passwords. It’s important that consumers stay alert while online and avoid malicious websites that have the potential to cause harm.
The almost overnight shift to remote working has led to a whole new set of challenges for already stretched security teams. One of these is the blurring of lines between personal and work devices. Many smaller businesses are now relying on staff working on their own personal devices while larger organisations might find their employees using work devices at home for more than work – whether that’s keeping touch with loved ones virtually or streaming their favourite TV shows and movies.
Employees using their personal devices for work (and vice-versa) should be vigilant, and ensure that their lockdown TV habits don’t compromise their company’s wider security posture. The sharing of corporate data and sensitive information over cloud services means that clicking on a suspicious link or using illegal streaming sites could have even more serious consequences than usual. Organisations must continue cybersecurity training when employees are working remotely to build up a strong security culture across their entire organisation – no matter where their staff are working. A business’ defences are only as strong as its weakest link – whether it’s clicking on a phishing email in the office or accessing a pirated streaming site riddled with malware.