Beware when searching for Royal Wedding news on the net

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 before, this is truly an “e- Royal Wedding!”

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.” 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. Poisoned search terms observed include:

• Royal wedding gown sketches
• Royal wedding guest list 2011
• Royal wedding time
• William and Kate movie cast
• Prince Charles last name
• Royal wedding official merchandise
• Royal wedding

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