Norton Survey Shows Royal Wedding Crowds Spilling Onto Cyber Streets
April 17, 2011
CUPERTINO, Calif., April 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ –
The royal wedding of the United Kingdom's Prince
William to Kate Middleton is fast becoming a major
international event. As modern technology enables
people worldwide to follow the young couple and
impending wedding festivities closer than ever
WHAT/WHY: before, this is truly an "e- Royal Wedding!"
A new study from Norton, the world leaders in
Internet security, shows people are flocking to
follow news of the royal wedding on "this side of
the pond," too.
In fact, 62 percent of Americans surveyed said they
are likely to follow the British royal wedding,
with 32 percent of those already keeping up with
the royal wedding news at least every few days
(some as often as once a day, or even multiple
times a day!).
As the big day nears and media attention increases,
people will look to online searches and outlets to
keep up on all-things "Will & Kate."
Of respondents, 38 percent will be going online for
their royal wedding news; more than a quarter will
be watching the wedding on a computer, laptop or
mobile device live or after the fact, and 53% will
potentially share their thoughts about the wedding
online.
Norton cautions these online wedding-followers and
well-wishers that this global event will - as
other major global events have done previously -
attract cybercriminals looking to capitalize on the
deluge of online activity.
As of March, security researchers at Norton have
already begun tracking malicious online activity
such as spam designed to steal personal information
and links to harmful sites hidden in search engine
results.
Norton has pulled together a quick check-list for
those royal wedding fans to help them steer clear
of cybercriminals:
--Think before you click - Beware of emails or
links that promise "leaked" footage, offer
"scandalous" pictures, or purport to have "secret"
information. Cybercriminals take advantage of
sensational and shocking headlines to get you to
click on links that could infect your computer
--Go with what you know -While any site could
potentially be risky, it's best to avoid clicking
on sites you've never heard of that show up in your
search results. Stick to the official royal wedding
website or go directly to reputable news sites to
get the latest news and videos of the wedding
-- Protect your computer - Use trusted security
software on your computer to block threats and make
sure you're keeping it up-to-date. Use Norton
Safe Web Lite and Norton Safe Web for Facebook -
free, downloadable tools that identify risky sites
before users click on them in search results and on
their Facebook news feeds
Norton security experts are on-hand to share tips
with users on how they can protect themselves from
online threats and stay out of the hands of
EXPERTS: cybercriminals.
A concise, easy-to-digest document that highlights
FACT SHEET: the key findings from the survey.
Impulse research surveyed a random sample of 1047
men and women, 18+ who plan to follow news coverage
of William and Kate's royal wedding, carefully
selected to closely match US population
demographics and the respondents are representative
SURVEY DATA: of American men and women 18+.
Interviews with Norton security experts available
WHEN: upon request.
CONTACT: Josh Barnes
Edelman for Norton
415-652-7117
joshua.barnes@edelman.com
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110216/LA49291LOGO)
SOURCE Norton
Source: newswire