Emma Watson
Emma Watson among best dressed at 2012 MTV VMAs featured on red carpet. Twitter

Emma Watson has become the favorite celebrity online for cyber criminals to lure unsuspecting browsers.

In a statement issued Monday, Internet security firm McAfee said the "Harry Potter" star earned the distinction of the most dangerous celebrity to search for online in 2012.

Apparently, many sites employ Emma Watson to lure users to download malware or steal personal information, Mail Online reported.

One in eight search queries for the 22-year-old star leads to a malicious site.

In 2011, Heidi Klum topped the list.

This is the sixth year the study is being conducted by the Intel-owned security firm, which noted that women celebrities are more likely to be employed as baits by cyber criminals. The only man to be featured in the list in top 20 is late-night host Jimmy Kimmel.

Premium entertainment portal Aceshowbiz noted that according to McAfee, "searching for the latest Emma Watson pictures and downloads yields more than a 12.6% chance of landing on a website that has tested positive for online threats, such as spyware, adware, spam, phishing, viruses and other malware."

Reportedly, malicious content can be hidden in "tiny" places like short URLS that spread virally in emails, text messages or social networking sites, according to Mail Online.